Living With A Secret
by Bedlam87
Summary: In the aftermath of Living With A Lie Becker and Jess are busy preparing for their pending parenthood, but will a secret from the past destroy everything they've fought for? A/N: This story won't make much sense if you don't read Living With a Lie first.
1. Prologue: Lost

**Becker's POV**

Becker struggled against the medical restraints that were pinning him to the standard issue ARC hospital bed as a team of doctors all dressed in white scrubs worked diligently on Jess.

"Where's all this blood coming from?" He heard one of the doctors say and he twisted his body as much as he could to get a better view of the room, and instantly wished he hadn't. There was blood everywhere, it dripped from the once stark white sheets of Jess bed to form an enormous puddle on the floor. The worst part was the fact that there wasn't anything he could do to help her or the baby. Becker jolted hard on the bed as his mind raced to fill in the thought was normally on the foreground of his mind.

"She's pregnant," he shouted. Only it came out as more of a whisper from a burning throat. He swallowed desperately a few time to wet his vocal cords enough to speak.

"She's pregnant," this time it came out at a normal level, but it was drowned out by the shouts of the doctors and the mechanical whirring of machines.

"Check the GOD DAMN BABY!" At his frantic shout the doctors froze and turned to look at him as one, each with a look of pity on their faces. It was then that Becker noticed that there wasn't a single drop of blood on any of them. It looked like they had all just pulled a set of brand new scrubs out of the packaging and pulled them on. Even their surgical gloves were pristine. _What the hell,_ he thought.

"There is no fetal heartbeat," the doctor nearest to him dead panned, before they all turned back to Jess simultaneously, like macabre robots. Becker broke.

"No!" He screamed as he renewed his efforts to get off the bed. The frantic beating of his heart seems to be mirrored in Jess' heart monitor.

"She's coding," one of the doctor's said, his voice void of any sympathy or compassion. The doctor next to him nods stoically.

"Cardiac arrest," he said before looking over at the clock, "Time of death, ten pm."

"Do something," Becker screams as he thrashes against his restraints, blood now pouring from his wrists despite the soft fabric and padding. His arms wrench free of the bed, ripping the padded cuffs from the side railing and tumbled to the floor. Without a second thought he was scrambling to get to his fading wife.

"There is nothing we can do," a doctor from the back told him and began to wrap the bloodied sheets around the unmoving pale woman.

"Help her," he roared as he pushed his way past the doctors to scoop Jess into his arms. He cried out brokenly at the sight of the gapping wounds covering her chest and belly. There wasn't much left for him to try to piece together, but he still tried. Using his now slippery hands to try and hold the wounds together, but her blood kept pouring out over him. Finally giving up, he put one of his hands to her cheek to turn her to meet his eyes.

"Jess."

"You were supposed to protect us," she said her voice weak, but full of condemnation.

"I tried," he stammered. Shocked that his normally sweet Jess would say something like that, "I'm so sorry, oh God so sorry Jess."

"Why didn't you save us?" she breathed out. The heart monitor attached to her let out one never ending, mournful tone as she went limp in his arms.

"Oh god no," he sobbed softy, "Please come back."


	2. Midnight Comfort

**This chapter got up fast, but I can't guarantee that the rest of them will, and I have no idea how long it's going to be yet. I want to update at least twice a week, but sometime life can through you curve balls. Enjoy! **

Jess woke to an empty bed for the first time since she and Becker had gotten married. Her eyes were still heavy with sleep, making the details of the room a little blurry, but she could see faint light coming from under the bedroom door. Running a hand through her sleep ruffled hair she threw the dark blue comforter off of her and swung her legs over the edge of the bed. It was almost time for her to get up for her nightly bathroom run anyway. It was one of the things she disliked about but being pregnant, but she knew it would be worth every bit of pain and annoyance in the long run. At least it would be easier to actually get to the bathroom tonight. A small smile crept on to her sleepy face at Becker's usual reaction when she tried to get out of bed before him. There wasn't a day since they got married that Jess hadn't woken up with Becker wrapped around her and using her slightly swollen belly as a pillow. It was one of her favorite ways to start the morning.

Jess made her way slowly to the bedroom door absently rubbing her eighteen week along belly. The flat was dim and silent, other than the soft padding of her bare feet on the hard wood floor. She makes a note to talk to Becker about getting carpet installed if they're going to stay here after the baby's born, and carpet would make for a softer landing once the baby starts to walk. The light in the front room of loft was leaking into the hallway and Jess knew immediately that she would find Becker sitting at the dining room table with a glass of water, cleaning one of his guns. The soft sounds of Becker's work got louder as she got closer to the large open room at the front of the flat that served as a kitchen, dining room and living room. Sure enough, she found Becker sitting in his usually seat cleaning her PPK, which surprised her a little since he usually cleaned his larger guns when he was upset. The way he handled something capable of quite a bit of damage with confidence and skill captivated her every time she saw it. Leaning against the doorjam of the hallway, she watched as he broke the gun down and put it back together at what looked like lightning speed.

"I didn't mean to wake you up," he said without looking away from the small hand gun in his grip. She wasn't surprised in the least that he'd known she was there. He most likely had known she was coming out the second she'd opened the door to their bedroom. With a soft sigh pushed herself off the wall and walked over to stand behind him. For a moment she worked the knots from his overworked shoulders while he finished the final steps of cleaning the tiny pink and black gun he'd gotten her for a wedding present. It wasn't until he started to take it apart again that she let her hands glide softly down his arms until he set the gun on the table and wrapped his fingers around her wrists, placing a lingering kiss on each palm. She leaned forward against him to rest her chin on the top of his head and wrap her arms around his shoulders. Something she enjoyed doing, but rarely got the chance to do since he was so much taller than her and rarely sat still in her presance. Becker groaned softly as Jess gently raked her nails across his bare chest until he covered her hands with his.

"Another nightmare?" She asked softly, her lips still pressed into his hair. Becker tilted his head back to look at her.

"What if I just couldn't sleep?" He asked a small smile playing at his lips. His eyes closed as Jess pressed a kiss against his forehead and wasn't all that surprised at the slightly salty taste on her lips afterwards. It only confirmed that he'd woken up drenched in sweat from another nightmare.

"Because," she said with her lips still touching his skin, the sensation making them both shiver slightly, "You only clean your guns after midnight when you're upset, and you're cleaning my gun. That means you're worried about me in particular."

"Are you sure you're not a shrink?" Becker asked her jokingly, but Jess knew a diversionary tactic when she saw one. Getting him to open up more was one of the most difficult things about their short engagement and even shorter marriage.

Without taking her hands off him, Jess walked around until she was standing in front of him. His hands were instantly resting on her hips as hers slid down to pull them to her slightly rounded belly.

"I just know when my husband's upset," she told him. Becker sighed and dropped his head to gently rest between his hands, "That's the first one since you caught King." She felt Becker tense when she said the name of the man who'd made their lives a living hell for a few long months. Jess didn't push any farther than that, knowing that if she was going to get anything from him tonight it was up to him.

"You were dying," he whispered finally and the tone in his voice had Jess burying her hands in his hair in an effort to comfort both of them, "You were dying and I couldn't save you, either of you. There were doctor's everywhere and they weren't doing a damn thing. They just let you die, and you blamed me for it." She gripped his hair a little tighter and pulled him closer to her in a half embrace. It didn't take a mind reader to know that Becker had been going over what the doctor had said at her first sonogram appointment this morning.

"You know the doctor was only warning us to be careful, don't you?" When Becker failed to speak or look at her, Jess trailed her fingers down his stubble covered cheeks to tilt his chin up. "Don't you," she used her eyes to beg him for an answer, getting worried that he'd taken the doctor's warning as more serious that she thought it was.

"He said you're high risk Jess," he said flattening his hands so his palms rested against the warm skin under the t-shirt she'd stolen from his drawer shortly after moving in. Jess giggled at the sudden feeling of butterfly wings sweeping across the inside wall of her stomach beneath his palms. Becker looked at her confused, and maybe a little angry. She placed her hands on his cheeks and ran her thumbs along his cheekbones, trying to erase the sudden tension from the muscles there.

"I swear I'm not laughing at you," she said still giggling, "he's trying to kick you for being such a worrywart and it tickles." In less than a second Becker had her shirt pushed over her belly and his ear pressed against her skin. She stifled a harder laugh at the slightly disgruntled look on his face when he pulled away.

"When do I get to feel?" he asked, sounding a little like a petulant child. Jess' hands went back to weave through the strands of his hair.

"In a few more months," she said, glad that the night had taken a lighter tone. Jess bit her lip gently, knowing they had to finish talking about the fact that the doctors were being extra cautious with her pregnancy. "Just because they want to keep an eye on me doesn't mean that there's anything wrong, or that anything will go wrong. They're just going by my family history."

"I know," Becker sighed releasing her to rub his hands over his face, "It's just with everything we deal with, it's hard to imagine things ever being easy." Jess slid into his lap carefully and pulled his hands down to wrap around her waist before she kissed him softly.

"We'll just take things as they come, okay?" She told him while they rested their foreheads together.

"Alright," Becker conceded, pulling her tight against him for a moment. "But I think you should start wearing flats. You might trip."

"I haven't tripped yet and unless you want to look like you're married to a twelve year old, I'm not giving up my heels." She told him firmly scooting out of his lap to stand with her hands on her hips.

"Just think about it, please?" Becker did his best impression of puppy dog eyes and she caved.

"Alright. Now come on," Jess said tugging Becker up from his chair and starting to drag him towards their bedroom, "we have to work in the morning."

"Maybe you should take some time off," he suggested lightly, causing Jess to roll her eyes.

"You need to stop worrying about it so much," she told him, "I think you need to find a relaxing hobby. Like yoga!" she glanced over her shoulder to see his reaction.

"Not gonna happen," he told her raising a single brow as if to say 'are you honestly suggesting that'.

"Naked yoga?" Jess countered with a matching eyebrow.

"I'll watch you," he said with a smirk, "Though I'm not sure how far into the routine you'd get." He whispered the last part against the sensitive skin at the base of her neck making her shiver deliciously.

"There is naked pregnancy yoga right?" his voice was so hopeful that Jess couldn't help but laugh as she climbed into bed while Becker closed and locked the door behind them. Jess almost wanted to roll her eyes at the slightly paranoid action, but she remembered everything that had happened to them and didn't. Sleep claimed her again almost as soon as he slid his arm around her waist and pressed against her so that every part of them was touching.

The next time Jess woke, there was a reasonable time on what had once been a simple black alarm clock, before Jess had taken a silver paint pen to it, and the light was streaming in through the curtains rather than under the door. The weight on her stomach that was extremely familiar and she glanced down to see her husband's unruly mop of midnight hair. It had amazed her just how long it took him, and how much product, to get it military issue when she first started living with him.

She ran her fingers through his hair, content to just watch him sleep for a while, before her bladder began to demand action on her part. She did her best to slide out from under from under her soldier husband, but she only made it about an inch before Becker tightened his arms around her.

"Mine," he mumbled as he buried his head farther under her shirt, which made her laugh as his day old whiskers tickled her stomach.

"Becker wake up," she said shaking him softly, "or just let me up for a second."

"No," he mumbled against her skin. She snickered a little at the newly established morning, and sometimes midnight, routine. It took a harsher tug at his hair to get him to finally look at her.

"You can get up and let me get to the toilet or..." Becker shot out the bed, grabbed her and nearly sprinted to the bathroom, with her laughing all the way.


	3. Yellow Morning

**This is pretty much a fluff/filler chapter, but I want to have the next chapter up tomorrow.**

Becker tried to let the hot water rinse away the bad memories from last night, but the memories of waking up in a blind panic were forever burned in his mind. Even cleaning all the guns in the flat hadn't managed to calm his racing mind the way the familiar motions usually did. Waking Jess hadn't been an option, even if he knew he needed her. The last thing he need was for her to lose sleep and look exhausted all day at the ARC. Despite his best efforts, she'd woken up anyway and the comfort of knowing she and the baby were safe was all he needed to get back to sleep. Frigid water suddenly hitting his back made him yelp, quickly followed by a string of curses when the shampoo he'd been liberally applying dripped into his eyes.

"Sorry," Jess's voice called through the door, "I forgot you were in the shower." Becker sighed, his breath throwing tiny droplets of water in every direction as he does his best rince the stingin foam from his eyes.

"It's fine," he told her once he could keep his eyes open again, "I'll be out in minute." He could hear her leave and guessed by the soft sounds of her footfalls that she hadn't put her heels on yet, which was rather unusual for her. heels were on her feet almost the instant she woke up simply because he was a whole foot taller than her and it made it easier for her to kiss him, at least that was she told him the one time he asked. A finl quick rince was all he needed to hop out of the shower and grab one of the white towels from the chrome rack over the toilet. It was the one thing he demanded when he moved into her flat with the lavender bathroom. No matter how much he loved her, there was no way in hell that he was going to walk around in a purple towel. A demand that had proved usuefull when Connor had barged into the flat to return the key Jess had given him and Abby when they moved in. The key he had just used to barge into the flat while Becker was wearing nothing but a towel,and had Jess up on the counter minus her shirt. He'd kept himself bodily between Connor and a half naked Jess, who had a nice flush of arousal covering her skin. If Jess hadn't been so embrassed, Becker would have laughed when she launched a sautee pan at the computer geek's head. Connor hd run out the door faster than Becker had ever seen him move, and that included running from raptors.

A big goofy grin that suddenly slapped itself to his face at the memory of what happened once the door was locked behind Connor made him look rediculous, but he really didn't care. A flash of steam followed him out of the bathroom and into the freezing bedroom. Thankfully Jess was as picky with her house linens as she was with her clothes, so she'd insisted on large fluffy towels that absorbed water instantly. Admittedly, he didn't really put up an argument. His uniform was laying on the bed ready for him along with apair ofbright red boxer briefs, a gift from Jess who insisted on adding a little color to his work wardrobe. With a small laugh,he pulled on the boxers and black cargo pants before using the towel to soak up the water still dripping from his hair.

A metallic crash from the direction of the front door had Becker droppig the towel to the floor and racing for the front room, despite the fact that his black cargos were still unbuttoned. The wooden floor proved dangerous in his socked feet and he made a mental note to install carpet for when the baby arrived. He grabbed onto the doorjamb to stop his slide and scanned the room for any signs for something wrong. Muffled cursing, something about stupid metal bowls having a mind of their own, met his ears and he did his best to stifle a laugh when he realized Jess was unharmed.

"What may I ask is so funny?" Jess asked as she popped up from behind the kitchen counter, looking like a kitten with its hackles raised. Becker was forced to smother a grin when he took in his wife slightly rumpled appearance and her attempt at intimidation. She stood with her hands on her hips, only the bottom of her hips and her hands disappeared behind the counter. A realization that made him frown slightly in confusion.

"What?" she asked her hands still on her hips, her brow slightly furrowed.

"Are you..." he trailed off using his hand in an up and down motion, not wanting to say what he was thinking aloud. When her eyes went wide, he prepared himself for the tounge lashing that he'd only recently discovered his tiny wife could deliver. With a sigh she stepped out from behind the counter and felt his jaw drop. His high heel addict of a wife, was wearing flats. Granted they were still purple with a bright yellow flower on the toe, but they were still flats.

"What...,Why...?" He couldn't seem to string a sentance together.

"You were right," she said walking towards him and pointing a finger at him, "Don't rub it in." Becker smiled at her as she walked past him and he couldn't resist a tease.

"Yes dear," he said over his shoulder as he reached for the half full glass of apple juice sitting on the counter. Her tinkling laughter filled the large flat.

"Get used to saying it," she called, "and you might want to put a shirt on before we leave in ten minutes." Becker looked at the clock and nearly spit out the juice when he saw just how long he'd been in the shower. The glass was gently tossed into the sink, and he as practically racing down the hall in seconds.

In exactlly nine minutes Becker was helping Jess into the passanger seat of his 4x4 in the parking garage of their flat.

"We're going to have to get another car when the baby's born," Jess told him as he slid in through the driver's side door.

"You have a car," he told her, starting up the mammoth car and turning to pull out of the underground garage. The mint green mini, he'd never figured out how she managed to get that color, wasn't a horribly practical car for a family but he'd figured they'd get at least a few more years out of it.

"Have you ever tried to get an infant car seat in and out of a coupe?" she asked, he could practically hear her eyebrow rising. He wasn't entirely sure if he should be smugly satisfied or horrified that she seemed to be picking up some of his habits. At the moment he was going with smug.

"It's miserable," she said grumpily, Becker knew she absolutely loved that car and had only had it for a few years, "it's almost a better work out than an hour on the spin bike at the gym." His mind raced as he tried to figure out just how she knew how difficult it was, since she sounded like she was speaking from personal experience and he knew for a fact that she didn't have any children. At least he hoped she didn't. Luckily the next light turned red so he was able to look at her for her answer.

"And just how do you know that?" He asked twisting in his seat to face her, "any illegitimate children wandering around that I should know about?" He grinned unrepentantly as Jess glared at him, not in the least intimidated.

"I watched a friend's little boy during one of her night classes last year," she shuddered for a moment, "getting his seat into the mini was a nightmare." Becker looked at her for a moment longer before she pointed out the windshield and he realized the light had turned green with him just sitting there like an idiot. There was a topic he wanted to talk with her about, but wasn't sure if it would kill any good mood for either of them. He risked it anyway.

"So," he said slowly, watching her out of the corner of his eye, "When do you want to tell the team?"

"Tell them about what?" she asked trying to sound innocent. Becker just looked at her with his signature eyebrow raise and she crumbled. "Oh alright. I figured I'd give it another month, just in case. But I want to tell Katie today."

"Why Katie," he was honestly a little surprised at her statement. He knew she and his lead medic had become fast friends since Katie had helped them both during the stalking incident, but he figured she would still tell Abby first. After all Abby was still her best friend. He thought.

"We need someone on the medical staff to know just in case something happens at the ARC." Becker stared at her a moment in shock, mostly surprised that his safety centered mind hadn't thought of that first.

"Good point," he told her, turning onto the ARC property and flashing his badge to the guard, Williamson, at the gate. Not for the first time he was thankful that his assigned parking spot was right next to the lifts. Connor had almost been "accidentally" hit with an EMD blast when he'd teased Becker about being so close to the lifts because he kept getting injured. Now he was just happy that Jess didn't have to walk any farther than she had to in her condition.

"I'll tell Howell too," he told her as he helped her down from the truck. She looked at him in surprise.

"Why?"

"If I'm at an anomaly sight and something happens to you, it'd probably be a good idea for my second to know why I suddenly run for the cars." Jess laughed so hard that she actually had to put a hand on her stomach which, Becker noticed for the first time, wasn't showing at all.

"Is that one of those doll dresses you were talking about?" he asked waving a hand at the pale yellow dress she was wearing. He wasn't horribly surprised when she rolled her eyes at him, but he know she didn't honestly expect him to remember what they were called.

"It's a baby doll dress," she told him as they walked hand in hand to the lifts. There had been a lot of stares directed at them when they'd come back from their short honeymoon and had been holding hands in the ARC halls. One or two soldiers had run into walls, or unsuspecting techs, while their eyes were trained on their CO and his wife.

"I have to wear them to keep the bump from showing," she rubbed a hand over the place where their baby grew, still tiny enough to be hidden by most clothing in his opinion.

"You could always were normal clothes and blame it on too much chocolate if people asked. OW!" Becker rubbed the spot in his arm where Jess had pinched, with her nails.

"Never tell a pregnant woman she looks fat," she told him as they reached the lifts, and she pushed the button for the ops room floor. Becker's mind instantly scrambled for some way to backtrack without digging himself into an even deeper hole.

"I didn't mean-," He was cut off when Jess put her hand over his mouth.

"I know," she said giving him a quick kiss when they arrived at her floor, "just a warning for when the hormones really start to kick in." Becker leaned heavily against the wall of the lift as she trotted away in a swirl of yellow.


	4. Spidey Senses

Jess giggled when she reached the ADD, remembering the momentary look of panic that had flitted across the normally stoic soldier's face. It probably wasn't very nice to tease him, but it was too hard to resist when he set himself up so perfectly. With a few quick flicks of her fingers, she was logged into the ARC's system and had checked to make sure Katie was on duty today. Luckily for Jess, she was currently sitting in the medical center doing inventory. Jess slipped in her ear piece and connected a private line to Katie.

"Morning Katie," she said watching the woman's reactions over the CCTV system, "she wasn't at all surprised when the medic waved in the direction of the camera without interrupting what she was doing.

"Hey Jess," she said after she finished whatever it was she was counting.

"Can you come to the ops room when you get to a stopping point?"

"I'll be right there. Is everything alright?"

"Fine, I just have something I need to talk to you about."

"Be there in five." Jess switched them both back to the main channel and settled in to run a quick diagnostic on the ADD. It was a habit she'd started her second week at the ARC after a relatively harmless virus was found on the system after a few hours of running. Now she checked it out the moment she clocked in. A sudden tap on her shoulder made her jump slightly and nearly fall out of her chair. Howell laughed as he caught her before she could tip out and settled her back into the soft cushion. Jess slapped at him, which he easily dodged, and pouted.

"Sorry Jessie," he said doing his best to match her pout, only to nearly fall over laughing when she glared at him for the nick name. She smirked as Katie walked stealthily up behind Howell to deliver a sharp smack to the back of his head. The laughter stopped abruptly and he turned to look at the pocket sized medic standing behind him.

"What was that for?" he asked rubbing the stinging spot.

"Stop teasing Jess," she told him with a glare that far exceeded Jess' in the intimidation factor, "Becker's looking for you by the way." Both girls tittered at the sight of Howell stomping out of the ops room, like a toddler denied a treat.

"Alright," Katie said turning her attention back to Jess, "What did you want to talk about?"

"High risk pregnancy," Jess blurted, to the obvious surprise of the medic next to her. Jess instantly slapped a hand over her mouth and her eyes darted around the room.

"You pregnant?" she asked bluntly. Jess nodded slowly after confirming that no one was close enough to listen in, "And the doctor told you it's high risk?"

"My mum had five miscarriages before they had me," Jess said quietly, "The doctor's never knew exactly what happened, but they're pretty sure it was genetic, so my doctor wants to keep an eye on me just in case." Tears were starting to well up in her eyes, but she couldn't stop them. A hand on her arm pulled her out of her chair, and she heard Katie call for one of the techs to watch the ADD. In less than a minute, Jess and Katie were in the women's lavatory with Katie checking all the stalls. When the stalls were confirmed clear, Katie slid the door lock home and pulled Jess into a tight hug. It didn't take long for Jess to break down and slide to the floor, despite Katie's effort to keep her standing.

"Becker's freaking out, and I'm trying to hide the fact that I'm just as scared." She said as soon as she'd stopped sobbing, but she was still shaking, "Not only do I have a shitty family history, but I work in what has to be one of the most stressful job in the world. I have to watch my husband walk right up to things that want to kill him and I wonder if I'm gonna have to raise my baby alone, if I don't lose the baby first." Jess looked up at Katie with tears streaming down her face. "I don't want to lose my baby." Katie kneeled down in front of her and grabbed her shoulders gently.

"Jess, you are one of the least stressed people I have ever met." Katie said giving her a gentle shake, "What do you tell Becker when his knickers get in a twist?" Jess couldn't help but laugh at the potent image that sprang into her mind.

"I tell him I'm not high risk, and we'll deal with it if it comes up."

"Then just-," Katie was cut off when the alarms throughout the ARC blazed to life at full blast. Jess threw the lock open and raced down the halls at full speed. Her chair was empty when she reached the computer, but the tech was only about a foot away so she guessed he saw her coming.

"What've we got," Becker's voice sounded in her ear. She could hear multiple pairs of combat boots slapping against the linoleum floor, which meant he'd go straight to the carport.

"Anomaly alert."

"Yeah, we got that part Jess. Ow!" Matt's voice was next to come over the radio, "What the hell Becker."

"Watch your tone," she heard her husband tell the team leader.

"Thank you Captain," she told him, forgetting for a moment just how much he enjoyed it when she used his title.

"Jess," he said in warning.

"Right, sorry. It's at shopping center on Nelson St, about ten minutes away. Third floor lingerie boutique."

"Wonder if the dinosaurs fancy a shopping spree," Connor quipped, before Jess heard a thwack and assumed that Abby had smacked him.

"Anything on CCTV," Matt asked.

"Not yet. I'll let you know if anything changes, just be careful." she told them.

"We will Jess," Becker said and once again Jess was grateful that they'd agreed to avoid the cutesy pet names.

"Yes the last thing I need is paperwork." Lester's sarcasm laden tone sounded next to her. Jess rolled her eyes until Katie leaned down next to her.

"I think you should tell Lester," she said and Jess just stared at her with widened eyes.

"Anything yet Jess?" Becker's voice rang in her ears, making her jump a bit and her eyes darted back to the screens.

"Damn," she muttered.

"What is it Jess?" Becker asked.

"At least two creatures, some kind of arachnid. The ones I can see look to be the roughly the size of a medium dog." She heard a low whistle over the coms.

"That's a big spider." Jess shook her head at Connor's comment, not at all surprised. It was usually easier to just ignore him.

"Guys," Jess said when movement drew her attention back to the screen, "three more spiders just came through. It looks like they're settling into their new home happily." Her voice was tinged with disgust.

"What's up?" Matt asked.

"Webs," she told them her nose wrinkling up in disgust, "Lots of webs. Disgusting really."

"Want me to bring some home?" She heard Becker say.

"Only if you want to be celibate for the next year." The laughter from the soldiers around Becker was so loud that Jess had to yank the earpiece out. Once the laughter had stopped, or been stopped by Becker from the sound of it, she stuck it firmly back in her ear.

"Let's try not to deafen the field coordinator guys," she told them.

"Sorry Jess," They chorused, making Jess smile.

"You've been practicing," she cheered softly to avoid hurting their ears.

"Oh shut it!" Matt said followed by another exclamation of pain. "Becker!"

"You're three minutes away, guys."

"Copy that Jess," Howell said.

"Aren't you supposed to be home cooking dinner for your man, Jessie?" asked a snide voice. It was easy to recognize the voice of Private Jenkins. He hadn't been to pleasant with jess since she turned him down two months ago. He'd kept trying even after she'd told him she was engaged, at least until he realized she was going to be Mrs. Becker and not the wife of some pencil pusher like he thought. He still didn't like her but since none of the other soldiers really liked him Jess didn't care.

Jess could basically feel the tension over the radio waves. Ever since King, and her marrying Becker, the majority of the soldiers had been even more protective of her. When she'd asked Becker about it, he'd just told her that they'd felt betrayed by one of their own and didn't like that they'd been tricked.

"I could always knock your credit score down by a few hundred points if you think I need to do more Jenkins." Jess shot back and was rewarded some muffled chuckling.

"Bitch," Jenkins mumbled. Unfortunately for him, both Lester and Becker heard him.

"Captain Becker, I believe we need to have a discussion about reducing our staff."

"As soon as I get back work for you, Sir?"

"Oh come on! You can't really be sacking me because of some piece of ass." Jenkins shouted. Every person who could hear what he said went silent as soon as he spoke. Jess was pretty sure it was the longest silence during the drive to an anomaly alert she'd ever heard, and she was suddenly worried that Becker might just kill Jenkins.

"Becker, are you in the same car as Jenkins?" Jess asked carefully, keeping her eye on the screens in front of her.

"No," his voice was tight, "I-."

"Good. Jenkins, you will not step foot in that mall, you will wait in front under guard where another unit will pick you up and bring you back here to collect your things."

"You've got to be kidding." Jenkins said, which actually gave Lester a slight reddish tint to his face, the first time Jess had ever seen that happen.

"I never kid," Lester said turning away from the ADD where Jess was arranging a pick up for Jenkins, "You're lucky I'm not letting Becker shoot you." Jess wasn't sure the chastised soldier heard the last part, but she had a very hard time not giggling.

"Jess," Becker's voice jolted her back to reality, "We're going in."

"Alright," she said, her fingers flying across the keyboard, "The spider things seem to be staying on the third floor and above."

"Thanks Jess," Becker said, "Hopefully we'll be done in time for dinner."

"Don't expect much," she told him, "We're having take away. There's no way I'm cooking after today."

"I'll cook," he said.

"Not if you want me to live." She told him, the teasing note back in her voice after the tension had drained away.

"Take away it is." Jess saw the team enter through the front door and quickly set up a perimeter.

"Be careful when you go upstairs, they've got webs everywhere." She told them watching for any indication that the spiders were getting closer to the team.

"If they're like today's spiders, then they'll have an alert system built into their web," Connor said keeping his eyes on his tablet, which was recording anomaly data and taking pictures of the area.

"Really," Becker asked his tone making it obvious that he really didn't care. However, Connor took it as an invitation to continue.

"Yeah," he said starting to get excited, "Just touching one of those threads will call the spider down, and that is not pleasant way to go. The poison melts all your internal organs, before sucking everything out using their fangs like a straw."

"Connor will you shut up!" Becker said twisting to face the computer nerd.

"Becker look out!" Jess shouted as one of the creatures lunged at Becker while his back was turned. She could only watch in horror as one of the larger spiders attached itself to Becker's back and plunged one of its fangs into him.


	5. Spinning and Swaying

**Sorry it took so long, and it's so short. Working two jobs isn't leaving much time for writing, and the stress is giving me some serious writer's block. But one of the jobs will be over on Feb 19th, so hopefully everything will go back to normal. Enjoy!**

Becker bit back a scream of agony, turning it into a grunt, and on instinct grabbed the blood slicked fang before the creature could do anymore damage. Or worse, pull back for another bite. The spider twisted on his back, trying to get away or bite him again, he wasn't sure which, and every move sent burning spears of pain darting through his body. Vaguely he was aware of more spiders converging on his men, but as far as he could tell they were holding their own. The only problem was that there was no one free to help get the damn thing off him. Soon darkness began to flicker at the corner of his eyes and he knew he'd be out cold in another minute at the most. Then he'd be at the mercy of the creature. Sounds became muffled, but he could still hear Jess' terrified screams ringing sharply in his ears. They were probably the only thing keeping him conscious at this point.

Just as the darkness clouded most of his sight and his grip on the fang was slipping Becker felt a sudden jerk, accompanied by a searing pain, and the weight on his back fell away. A hand grabbed the strap of his Kevlar vest on the uninjured side and dragged him towards the door.

"Medic," the voice shouting was familiar, but he couldn't immediately place it. The cry was followed shortly by the sound of racing boots. A face drifted into his limited field of vision.

"How you feeling sir?" the soldier asked him. Becker frowned at the familiar, yet unfamiliar, face. He wracked his foggy brain for a moment before answering.

"Paladin," he said pointing unsteadily at the young soldier.

"Yes sir. Corporal Wade Paladin at you service." The younger man's face split into a wide grin. One that made Becker's cheeks hurt.

"You were the one guarding Jenkins right," Becker asked him in an attempt to get a firmer grasp on reality, dispite his pain hazed mind. He didn't really hear Paladin's answer as he was suddenly distracted by the foot long fang sticking out of his shoulder. He reached out automatically towards it only to be stopped when one of the medics grabbed his wrist.

"We can't take it out until we get back to the ARC," the medic told him as he slid a needle into the SAS captain's arm. Becker had a feeling he should be pissed at the 'I'm talking to a child' tone the medic too with him. Instead he just nodded, becoming only vaguely aware of what was going on around him, focusing on Jenkins while the medics started working on him. The soldier in question was sulking against one of the SUVs, a cigarette dangling between his lips. Becker's glare might not have been as intimidating as it usually was, but he was giving it his best shot. Looking, glaring, at Jenkins had Jess's terrified scream from earlier bouncing around in his head. His hand stared to dart to his ear piece before pain shot up his shoulders and his head swam. He felt the world start to tilt until his shoulder hit something solid, and there were hands to steady him.

"Easy," Paladin said as the young man sat him back up straight again, "What's the rush?"

"Jess," Becker managed to say tightly as the medics placed yet another rolled bandage against the fang to keep it from moving when they finally took him to the ARC. Paladin nodded and put his hand to his ear.

"Jess, this is Corporal Paladin."

"Is he ok?" Jess' voice was shaky and it actually, physically hurt to hear her sound so scared again.

"Becker's out and the medics are with him now." Becker heard him tell her. It was a little disconcerting to hear the conversation through his coms and right next to him, but as long as he could hear Jess' sigh of relief he didn't care.

"Alright," Jess said, her voice only a little steadier, "Back up's on the way, but they seem to be doing well on their own." He heard Jess clear her throat. "Thank you."

At that moment one of the medics must have decided it was a good idea to drop Becker. Luckily Paladin caught him before he had more than a second to think about how much hitting the floor was going to hurt. Despite his best efforts, a groan of pain escaped him.

"You sound like crap, Sir," the soldier said, not bothering to hide his smile, and Becker honestly started to laugh, before it turned into a grimace. A snort from his left drew his attention to Jenkins, who was no snuffing the spent cigarette against the car's door handle.

"I thought he was going back to the ARC," Becker said.

"His entourage got stuck in traffic," Paladin told him, with barely concealed contempt in his voice.

"I haven't forgotten about you, you know," Becker told the asshole as they trudged past him, unfortunately the words came out slurred rather than intimidating.

"Jesus, what the hell did you give him?" Paladin asked the medics as they settled him onto a gurney. Becker could see Jenkins standing just behind the ambulance doors out of the corner of his eyes.

"Just morphine," one of the medics said. Part of him wanted to yell at the medic for giving him anything that could cloud his judgment, but he was just too drugged up to put out the effort. Jenkins snorted from his position behind the door and took a step closer.

"Marriage turned him into a pansy ass bitch, just like his-," Jenkins was cut off with a slightly sickening crunch as the ambulance door smashed into his face.

"Oh, sorry Jenkins," Paladin told the soldier who was now clutching his demolished nose, blood pouring steadily through his fingers, "Didn't know you were there."

With that Paladin closed the ambulance door and slapped it twice, signaling the driver they were good to go. With a sigh Becker stopped fighting against the drugs and his own resolve, allowing the natural darkness of sleep to consume him.


	6. Not a Good Morning

**A/N: Sorry it took so long everyone. First I was working two jobs, then I immediately get horribly sick (So all i did in my free time was sleep), before sinking into plain old writer's block. But you can all thank Prawn Crackers for the push I needed to get going. THANK YOU! This chapter's pretty short, but I hope to have a longer one up soon. Enjoy!**

"You did what?" Jess asked the doctor, her entire petite body nearly vibrating with suppressed rage.

"He's stable and the wound can be easily explained away as being caused by something in this era," the young woman told her, as she kept checking her phone. It made her look more like a teenager rather than a doctor at the top of her class, "So we transferred him to a civilian hospital." All Jess could do was stare in shock as the doctor turned back to her phone, basically ignoring her.

"Do you mind telling me where you sent him, or would you like me to erase your college history?" By now, there was no holding Jess back. Because of a recent round of the flu all of Jess' back up techs were out sick, which meant she'd been forced to wait until the away team had returned and checked in before she could go see Becker. Discovering that her husband was no longer in the medical center was not something she delighted in. Dr. Timo seemed to finally grasp the fact that Jess was beyond pissed and that it would be in her best interest to try being helpful.

"We sent him to St Bart's an hour ago." She told Jess while searching for something in her pocket. It didn't take long for her to find a small blue scrap of paper, and hand it to a very speechless Jess.

"An hour?" Jess' voice could barely qualify as a squeak as she took the small scrap of paper from the doctor.

"That's the name of the doctor in charge of his care," Dr. Timo told her, ignoring the question. A disembodied voice called for the doctor from somewhere behind her.

"I have to go," the older woman told Jess as she walked past her. The door she walked through swung so hard Jess was shocked it hadn't flown off its hinges. Jess stomped her foot in frustration, then rubbed her slightly protruding belly through the soft cotton of her yellow sundress when she felt the baby flutter slightly in response. A slow smile drifted onto her face despite the frustrating, and scary situation, as she wait for the persistent fluttering to slow down. Once she felt normal again she headed to the ops room to explain to Lester why she needed the rest of the day off.

"What?" To the untrained ear Lester's voice would sound calm, but Jess knew that from experience that his anger was simmering just under the surface. She pitied whoever was fated to have that fury unleashed on them.

"I have to go to St Bart's to see Becker," she told him, for what she thought was the third time, but she wasn't entirely sure. All she really wanted to do was to bolt out of the ARC in search of her AWOL husband, but she managed to keep her flat soled feet firmly in place. Lester rubbed his temples slowly, a sign Jess new well and made her wince once again in sympathy for whoever was going to be on the receiving end of his wrath. His right hand reached down to press against the intercom button.

"Dr. Timo, my office. Now!" Lester's voice echoed fiercely over the speakers littered around the ARC, and a second later he was pulling open the door to his office.

"Katie get in here," his sharp tone got the lead medic's attention immediately, and she nodded to him from across the room before excusing herself from the techs around her.

"May I go?" Jess asked, beginning to get more than a little frustrated at the sudden lack of progression.

"As soon as Katie is ready to drive you," Lester told her as he moved to stand behind his desk once again.

"I'm perfectly capable of driving myself, but thank you for the offer," Jess told him as she headed for the door. The gentle hand on her arm stopped her short, and she looked up at Lester in confusion.

"Katie is driving you," he told her firmly, as a father might speak to his daughter, "You're upset, and your condition can make emotions more intense than normal." Jess opened her mouth in shock, and she hoped to contradict what he was correctly implying.

"I don't…, I'm not…," she stammered. Lester looked at her with what she would swear was a small smile.

"Your hand was firmly planted on the tiny bump your dress is hiding, rather successfully I might add, the entire time Captain Becker was in danger. You don't become a father four times without picking up a few tricks." He told her, helping her sit in one of the empty chairs when her legs threatened to give out.

"But…,"

"The shoes just confirmed it,' he said pointing at her adorable flats, causing Jess to look down momentarily. By the time she looked up, Katie had come into the room and Lester had moved back to what he would call a save work related distance.

"For God knows what reason," Lester told the red haired medic, "The idiots in the medical wing have decided to send Captain Becker to St Bart's for treatment. Take Jess, and report back to me about his condition."

"Yes Sir," Katie said just as a knock sounded from the office door.

"Ah yes," Lester said, and Jess thought there was something akin to maniacal glee in his tone and eyes, "the lambs to the slaughter. Well off you go," Lester gently shooed them from his office before letting Dr. Timo in and locking the door behind her.


	7. Revelations and Questions

**Hello again. I hope you all like this chapter. Before we get started I just wanted to address a concern in one of the reviews.**

**The Sea: I couldn't figure out how to PM you, but I am curious about the Americanisms you were talking about. I'm not sure what you mean, probably because I am an American and therefore used to it, so if you could point some out for me or give me some examples I can try to lessen them in the future. Thanks!**

**To All Readers: I LOVE CRITIQUES! So if you want to point something out, good or bad, please do. :D**

**Enjoy!**

Jess didn't feel at all bad when she abandoned Katie the minute they found out what room Becker was in, and judging by the look on Katie's face she'd expected nothing less. For the first time she actually had to search for an injured Becker to visit him. She cursed Dr. Timo again and fervently wished she had downloaded the hospital layout to her phone. In the end it took her about ten minutes to find his room. There was a nurse checking his IV line when she finally stepped inside, and a sigh of relief left her when she saw he was sleeping peacefully. While she watched him sleep, she was once again amazed at how young he looked. At work, and even at home sometimes, it was easy to forget that he was only twenty seven.

"Can I help you?" The sound of the other woman's voice jolted Jess, reminding her of the nurse's presence.

"Sorry," she said with a slightly nervous giggle, "I just came to see my husband," she pointed at Becker, and felt a little silly since it was rather obvious who she was here to see.

"Nurse Parker," the older woman said with a kind smile, holding out her hand to Jess, "I'll be taking care of Captain Becker during his stay, so just let me know if either of you need anything." Jess couldn't keep her eyes from widening, before she quickly got herself under control.

"Thank you," Jess said taking her hand finally, "I'll remember that." Jess glanced at Becker again since it was difficult for her not to worry about him. The nurse must have caught the look, or she'd been here long enough to know what was going through her head, because she slipped passed Jess with a light squeeze to her shoulder.

"Everything looks fine, but I'll send the doctor in to explain everything." She told the worried young woman, "Go be with him."

Jess didn't need to be told twice. Her butt was firmly planted in the seat next to the bed and her hand in Becker's before the door was even fully closed. She ran her free hand thru his sweat dampened hair, brushing it away from where it had fallen into his eyes.

"What am I going to do with you?" She asked him softly, strangely afraid of waking him if she spoke too loudly. With a soft sigh Becker turned his face into the hand that had wandered from his hair to cup his cheek. Glancing at the door quickly, jess leaned in to brush her lips against the warm skin of Becker's forehead.

"I swear if you don't start wearing full body armor I'm going to weld you into it while you sleep," she whispered. Unable to resist, Jess pressed her lips gently against his, only to be interrupted by a yawn.

"Okay," she said in the middle of her yawn, "Being pregnant kinda sucks." Recognizing a hopeless battle, Jess settled back into the thankfully fluffy recliner and drifted to sleep, with Becker's hand clutched tightly in hers.

Jess jolted awake and the hand on her shoulder quickly fell away.

"Sorry," the man said, "I didn't mean to startle you. I'm Dr. Hansen." It took Jess a second to realize that the man was wearing a white lab coat. Jess was out of her chair in less than a second.

"It's fine," she told him quickly, "Is everything alright?" The doctor smiled at her, which instantly relaxed her. Dr. Hansen smiled at her, which instantly relaxed her. His mostly grey hair told her that he was only just past his prime, but his build and well weathered face showed that he obviously took care of himself.

"He's doing fine," he assured her, "He went into hypovolumic shock at one point, but we were able to reverse it relatively quickly."

"Can you dumb it down for me please?" Jess asked with a wry smile and received another smile in return.

"His body went into shock when he lost too much blood." Jess shoulder muscles tensed up again as he spoke, her mind racing through what little medical knowledge she had. Unfortunately it wasn't much, which let her imagination run wild.

"But he's fine now right?" She asked, partially afraid to hear the answer.

"He's fine," he said as he glanced quickly at the chart in his hand, "Has he woken up at all since you've been here?" Dr. Hansen walked over to check the machines attached to Becker as he spoke.

"No," she told him, looking back at the soldier lying on the bed, "At least I don't think so. I'm not really sure how long I've been here in all honesty, I seem to be drifting off more and more lately. Is that normal during pregnancy?" Jess slapped her free hand over her mouth, "Oh lord! I'm rambling again." Jess could tell Dr. Hansen was holding back laughter, and didn't really blame him.

"Needing more sleep is expected, so don't stress too much about it and just listen to what your body tells you," he looked at the gauze on Becker's shoulder and quickly back at her, "I need to take a look," he said pointing to Becker's wound, "Do you want to step outside, or…"

"I'll be fine," she told him, "If it's too much I'll just close my eyes."

With a nod, he swiftly went to work peeling back the stark white dressing layer, by layer. Jess felt her stomach churn a bit as the white fabric slowly shifted to red. As soon as he pulled away the last bloody layer Jess had to close her eyes. Unfortunately she wasn't fast enough to miss seeing the multitude of black stitches holding together swollen, red and angry skin. The only thing she could do was sqeeze Becker's hand a little tighter, hoping he could sense the comfort she was sending him.

"He's wrapped up again," Jess heard Dr. Hansen say and she slatted her eyes open just enough to check, just in case. Sure enough, Becker's shoulder was once again wrapped with pristine white gauze.

"Everything looks good, but the bandage has to be changed regularlly," He told her, "He should be able to go home in a few days."

"Thank you." Jess said, letting out a sigh of relief.

"During his surgery, we had a plastic surgeon come in to take a look at the wound-"

"Why?" The question was out before she could stop herself, and she looked at Dr. Hansen with a sheepish smile, "Sorry."

"It's just a normal consult to see if it can be sutured a certain way to reduce scarring, or if a more invasive procedure is necessary. In Captain Becker's case, it would require a more intricate procedure. The surgen will come talk to you in a little while."

"Alright." Jess wasn't sure if Becker would really be that interested in going through another surgery simply for vanity's sake, but she'd let him make that decision when he woke up.

"Will the nurses-," Jess question was cut off by a commotion from the hallway.

"Take you hand off me," a woman's voice yelled, "You will take me to see my brother now, or I will sue this charity case of a hospital and make sure all benefactors pull their support." The woman's voice was getting louder and more beligerant, making Jess and Dr. Hansen share a quick look, before the arguemant came to a halt outside the door. Dr. Hansen made a subtle, but quick move to put himself between Jess and the door. Jess couldn't help but put a gold star in the doctor's column on her mental list for his move. The door was swung open violently, slamming into the wall, and a well dressed middle aged woman walked in followed closely by Nurse Parker who looked like she'd happily throw the woman out a window.

"My poor baby brother!" The woman wailed as soon as she saw Becker and made her way to his bedside, only to be stopped by the larger man in front of her.

"I think you may have the wrong room Ma'am," he told her gently, while still preventing her from moving any closer to the bed. The woman looked him up and down before tossing her perfectly, yet obviously, dyed hair.

"Obviously not, since I'm here to visit Hilary Becker," she sneered, pointing at the still form on the hospital bed. Jess took an instant disliking to the woman and shifted closer to Becker, as if she could protect him.

"Becker's an only child," she said, hoping to defuse the situation quickly. The woman obviously had other ideas.

"Who are you and what are you doing in my brother's room?" she demanded, taking in Jess' appearance from her mussed hair and now missing flats. Though Jess honestly wasn't sure when she'd taken them off.

"I'm his wife, and like I said. Becker doesn't have a sister." Jess said firmly. The other woman's face started turning red.

"My brother is not married!" she hissed, "He wouldn't get married without telling me and certainly not to some cheap little slut like you!" Jess' knees wobbled, and she sank into the chair before she could fall.

"Get her out of here," Dr. Hansen shouted to the security guards who had just arrived. Jess could vaguely hear the two men telling the woman claiming to be Becker's sister that she could leave on her own, or be escorted out. She chose to leave under her own power and her parting reply, which Jess was sure was laced with well-bred threats, was drowned out by Dr. Hansen asking her if she was okay.

"I'm fine," she told him before glancing at Becker, "But he better wake up soon, because I want to know what the hell that was about."


	8. Keeping Secrets

**Sorry it took so long to get this chapter out. I've been having trouble with my tablet. it keeps failing to save whole chunks of my story as I write it, so instead of moving on I have to rewrite everything. I think I've finally fixed it, so here we go! Enjoy!**

Despite the fact that she really didn't want to leave in case Becker happened to wake up in the middle of the night, Jess left an hour after visiting hours ended. Dr. Hansen had assured her before he left that it was unlikely that her husband would wake up so soon after surgery, though it had done little to convince her. In the end it had been Nurse Parker suggesting that sleeping in one of the hospital chairs all night probably wouldn't do the baby any good. Yet another reason to be furious at Dr. Timo for transferring Becker. At least at the ARC she could have slept in one of the extra beds.

Jess still wasn't quite sure how she'd known about the pregnancy, but she chalked it up to the fact that nurses seem to know everything and agreed to go home. By the time she'd gotten back to their flat, she was more than ready to collapse into bad and not move for the next sixteen hours at least. The sound of her keys hitting the small purple ceramic bowl echoed through the flat and she toed off her flats. It baffled her that she could wear heels for hours with no problems, but a day in flats had her feet aching. She giggled a little at the teasing she might get from Becker when she tells him. With a groan she rubbed the small of her back, wondering how the hell she was going to make it through another five months when her back was already aching with the five to ten pounds she'd already gained. She didn't know for sure how much she'd gained since Becker had thrown her scale away the first time she mentioned weight gain.

Ignoring the pull of the shower Jess slipped off her sundress and collapsed onto the bed without turning down the covers. She simply folded the comforter over her and was asleep in seconds.

It was obvious when she stepped into the sterile air of the hospital that she was one of the first people there. Down one hall a janitor was still wiping down the floor, Jess really hoped he wasn't cleaning up blood or anything similar. Shaking her head at her own wandering imagination and headed over to the nurse's station, once again wearing the flats Becker had suggested. She had a close call when she hit a still slick spot on the floor, but managed to keep her balance.

"Is Dr. Hansen in today?" She asked the middle aged woman sitting at the front desk. The woman's eyes were bleary when she looked up, Jess recognized the signs of an overnight shift all too well, and smiled brightly at Jess.

"It's his day off, but his replacement is just as good. I promise," she told her, "Did you need me to page her?" Jess shook her head and started down the hall.

"I'm okay," she told her with a wave and headed down the hall towards her husband's room.

"Wait," the nurse called to her, half standing from her chair. Jess jogged softly back, not wanting the exhausted looking nurse to have to do any more than she had to. The nurse smile at her, though she wasn't sure if it was because she was grateful or if it was just ingrained into her profession.

"Can you call us if he wakes up without a nurse in the room?" The other woman asked her when she got close to the desk.

"One of you will probably need to pry my finger off the call button," Jess giggled and the other woman laughed along with her, sending her off with a wave of her hand.

Unable to stop herself, Jess stepped out of the stairway on the floor below Becker's. Stepping up to the glass, Jess felt herself melt at the sight of all the pink and blue bundles safely ensconced in their Plexiglas bassinettes. The whole maturity ward her nervous and excited at the same time. She was horribly excited to be a mother and raise her and Becker's child, but at the same time she was terrified that she wouldn't be a good mother. Her hand drifted down to her slowly growing bump, hidden by a sky blue Sundress.

"Your first?" A voice from her right asked. Jess jumped a little, her other hand joining the first to rest protectively on her belly. The woman smiled softly at her while rubbing her own large stomach.

"Sorry," She whispered, "I didn't mean to scare you." Jess wasn't sure if the woman was a patient or an employee, because of her bright purple scrubs.

"It's fine," Jess assured her as her heart rate returned to normal, "and yes, my first." She glanced at her still relatively small belly before looking back at the stranger, "how'd you know?"

"My forth," the woman laughed pointing at her stomach. Jess laughed along with her a moment until guestions started forming in her mind. She bit her lip to keep them from pouring rude because she was desperate to ask, but didn't want to seem rude. a hand dropped softly onto her shoulder and gave a gentle squeeze.

"You're petrified aren't you?"

"Absolutely," Jess confirmed, relieve to finally have someone to talk to, "I have so many questions, and I don't have anyone to ask." Jess absently rubbed her thumb over her cotton covered belly, until a card slipped into her fingers.

**New Mothers Talk**

**Wednesdays at three o'clock**

**St. Bart's 1st floor**

"Thank you," she said in surprise.

"It's a pretty informal meeting, and it's open to father's of course."

"Becker!" Jess shouted, she'd forgotten all about the real reason was at the hospital in the first place, "I have to go, but thank you!" Jess waved as she nearly sprinted for the stairs, feeling more than a little guilty about forgetting Becker.

When she made it to Becker's room, Jess collapsed into the same chair she had spent most of the prior evening as soon as she entered the room. Her shoes hit the floor soon after and she curled her feet up underneath her, draping her coat over her bare legs. She ran her fingers through his hair, only mildly surprised that he hadn't woken up yet. Her nerves had her glancing up at the door every ten to fifteen minutes to ensure that the mad woman from the day before wasn't sneaking up on her again.

"You look like you're waiting for a future predator to attack," the sudden, albeit drowsy, voice made her jump and spin around.

"Becker!" Jess squealed as she practically launched herself onto her husband. Becker's arms clamped down around her before a soft groan of pain.

"Oh God, sorry! So sorry," Jess said, trying to detangle herself from her battered husband. Trying was the operative word, since Becker refused to relinquish his hold on her. If anything, he only pulled her farther into him.

"Becker, you're squishing the baby," she whispered into his ear. As she suspected, Becker let go immediately. Holding her at arm's length, his eyes swept over her until he frowned.

"You tricked me didn't you?" he asked, and jess couldn't help but giggle a little at the disappointed face he made at her.

"I had to get you to let go," she said, "You're hurt." Jess pointed at the bandage covering his shoulder to prove her point. Becker glanced at the wrapping and gave a small shrug, followed by a barely perceptible wince.

"It's not that bad," he said, only to be met with a tiny foot stomp.

"Becker!" Jess glared at him, which was about as intimidating as a hamster doing the same, "You have to let it heal. That means taking the full recommended medical leave, and not sneaking back to work early."

"But Jess, the-," Becker started. Jess took his hand and put it over the baby.

"For us?" she asked giving him her best puppy eyes. Becker caved.

"If you ran interrogations for national security," he said, "we'd never be at risk." Jess hopped a little in place while she clapped softly. Once her small celebration was complete she leaned over to kiss him.

"Thank you," she said, "Now I have to tell the nurses you woke up." Becker's hand slid off her belly to lightly clasp her hand.

"They can wait a little longer," he told her giving her just enough of a tug to pull her down to sit on the edge of the bed.

"But they made me promise." Jess pouted a little, not really liking the fact that she was most likely going to be breaking that promise. A deep rumbling chuckle came from Becker and Jess couldn't keep the corners of her mouth from twitching into a smile.

"Fine, but will you at least tell me what's got you so spooked before you go?" Jess shivered at little at the rather unfortunate memory.

"It was horrible," she said, "There was some snooty woman yesterday who tried to force her way in here by saying she was your sister." Jess could feel tears collecting in her eyes and cursed the hormones that made her even more emotional than normal, "She said some pretty awful things before the doctor kicked her out."

"What did she say?" Becker's voice was tense, and Jess was surprised at just how angry he seemed. She'd expected him to be anger, but he looked ready to rip the hospital apart.

"She said her brother would never marry a cheap little slut like me," her voice was soft but, from the shade of red covering Becker's face, he'd heard her.

"What did she look like?" Becker bit out. Jess pulled her hand free and started searching through her bag, becoming more and more confused, and concerned, by Becker reaction. Once she found what she was looking for, she sat back down on the edge of the bed.

"I got a picture off the CCTV footage so I could show the new shift when they came in," she told him as she flicked through the pictures on her phone, searching for the right one. As soon as Becker saw it, he exploded.

"Damn that bitch!" he said as he tossed the phone to the end of the bed. Jess was shocked at the sudden outburst. Sure Becker had lost his temper before, but it was the first time she had ever heard him insult a woman.

"Who is she?" Jess asked, almost afraid to hear the answer.

"My sister," Becker sighed as he rubbed his face with his good hand, "My bloody sister."


	9. The Bitch is Back

Jess sat numbly in her chair, her head resting on her hands while her elbows dug into the soft skin just above her knees. Two security guards and their supervisor stood next to Becker's bed, while he showed them the picture from her phone. He was telling them something regarding his sister, but Jess couldn't make anything out with her shock addled brain. _Why didn't he tell me about her? _she thought, trying to wrap her mind around this sudden change in her husband. Suddenly needing something to do, Jess stood up and walked out of the room. She could hear Becker calling her, but she needed to get away so she just kept walking. It wasn't until she realized that she'd stepped into the cafeteria that she stopped.

"Of course I head for the food," she said to herself with a small laugh, rubbing her belly slightly as the baby fluttered in her womb. She piled a surprisingly delicious looking packaged sandwich and mixed veggies on her tray, before going back for a piece of chocolate cake. Because it was still a bit early for lunch it was easy for Jess to find a table in the basically abandoned cafeteria. Not wanting to be forced to interact with the few people who actually were coming in, she took a table as far away from the entrance as she could get.

Her tray slid easily across the slick surface of the table and she collapsed into the chair with a huff. The food lost its appeal as soon as she took off the plastic wrap, so she pushed the tray away and pulled out her phone.

"Mad Genius," Connor's voice came over the line just after the first ring.

"Connor, it's Jess," she sighed, "Can you do me a favor and email me Becker's CV?" She could hear him laugh on the other end.

"I think being suspicious this soon after marriage is a new record Jess," he said. Jess rubbed her hand against her forehead, in a useless attempt to ward off a growing headache.

"Can you just send it please," she sighed. Connor must have heard something in her voice to make his usual humor falter.

"You alright Jess," he asked, concern filling his voice, "Is Action Man okay?"

"We're both fine," she told him, "I just need the file to help fill out some paperwork." She hated lying, but she didn't want to tell anyone what had happened until after she and Becker had gotten a chance to talk.

"It's on the way," he told her, "Abby says to tell Becker to hurry up and get better."

"I will," Jess told them with a smile. A chime from her tablet called her attention to her newest email. She zeroed right in on Connor's, ignoring a few new emails from her parents and friends, opening it to read through the history of the man she should already know everything about.

Jess sighed softly as she flicked through electronic pages. After searching for nearly half an hour, there was still nothing in Becker's CV about any family still living. There was a mention of his parents dying in a car crash when he was twelve, but there was no record of a sister anywhere. Just after the crash that killed his parents Becker started at The Duke of York's Royal Military School, and there was no one listed as next of kin. Jess gave up on her snooping abilities, for now, and decided to go directly to the source. Once her tablet had been packed away, and her lunch safely providing sustenance for her unborn, Jess made her way to the elevators that would take her back to her husband.

Becker was staring at a picture of his sister when she got back to the room. She stopped in the doorway, not sure if she wanted to interrupt him, until he looked at her.

"I won't get away with not wanting to talk about it will I," he asked with an uncertain smile. Seeing the normally confident soldier so off kilter, and not in a good way, made Jess' heart clench.

"Not this time," she told him while she moved to sit on the bed next to him. He took her hand and brought it to his lips to lightly press a kiss to her knuckles, before Jess pulled his hand to rest in her lap and wrapped her hands around it in encouragement.

"When I say I haven't seen her in forever, it's not an exaggeration," He told her not looking away from where their hands were joined, "The last time I saw her was after my parent's crash and she was telling one of her mates that she didn't want some kids fucking up her life. Next thing I know, she's shipping me off to school so she can party."

Jess tried to keep her emotions from showing, something she was notoriously bad at, but Becker saw through her as usual.

"It's nothing Jess," he told her and Jess just stared at him.

"How can you say that?" She asked. She started to get up, her body needing to pace, but Becker kept her in place with a firm tug on her hand, "It's awful. You'd just lost your parents and to have your sister send you away must have hurt so much." Jess wiped at her eyes with her free hand.

"Jess," he sighed, pulling her into his side, "I was serious when I said it wasn't a big deal. I've only met the woman maybe ten times that I can remember." Jess looked up at him with a confused frown and rested her head on his uninjured shoulder. Becker sighed again, "Cecilia was already out of the house when I was born. She was nineteen and just starting university, which in her case meant drinking instead of going to class. I only met her the few times she came home for the holidays, which was only when she needed money, and she didn't stay long." Jess squeezed his hand, not sure what else to do to show that she was there for him. She would have let it drop at that, but there was something niggling in the back of her mind.

"There's nothing in your CV about a sister and I know I'm the only person listed as your next of kin, so how did she find out about you being here?" Instantly Becker frowned. Jess could only guess that he was furious at the idea that their security was anything less than perfect.

"There's no chance someone could have hacked into our system right?" He asked, earning a look of disbelief from his wife, "Of course not. What was I thinking?" Jess giggled, which made Becker smile despite the fact that his pain meds were wearing off.

"We'll just have to figure out how-," Becker was cut off by a sudden commotion from the hallway and Jess paled slightly.

"We may get the chance to ask her ourselves," she told him.


	10. Hell Of A Wake Up Call

**Sorry it took so long to get this chapter up! I got really sick, as in couldn't eat for a week and dropped 10lbs, for a while and I'm just now completely back to normal. Hopefully the next chapter will be up faster. Enjoy! **

Becker held tightly to Jess' hand as he saw the blood drain from her face. Her sudden silence only served to make him angrier. Cecilia must been beyond the bitch he remembered to make his normally bubbly and outgoing wife suddenly meek. A soft squeeze got her to look at him and he tried to give her a reassuring smile, but he didn't feel very sure of himself. He was stuck on his back while every soldier instinct he had was telling him to put himself between Jess and the threat, however small.

"Hey," he said giving her hand another squeeze, "She can't do anything to us, other than annoy the hell out of us." Jess giggled, the little color that returned to her face calmed Becker's raw nerves. He had to admit to himself that he was nervous as hell to see his estranged sister after all these years. A very small part of him was hoping that she'd changed, and that she had just come to see that he was okay. But he seriously doubted it. Whatever reason she had to be here, it was all about her. Sure enough the door slammed open theatrically and Cecilia Becker walked in flaunting her glory.

"My poor baby brother!" Her arms flapped around, nearly slapping Jess as she made her way to the bed. Becker tugged Jess closer when one of his sister's hand came a little too close for his comfort. When Cecilia saw that, her lip curled up into a sneer.

"Why are you still here?" She tried to push Jess out of the way in her attempt to get even closer to the bed, which just served to piss Becker off.

"She here," Becker said pulling Jess over to sit on the edge of the bed next to him, "because she's my wife." Cecilia raised an eyebrow as she looked Jess up and down.

"Oh sweetie, you can do so much better. I've got some lovely friends I think you'll really like."

"Get out!" Becker roared, making Jess jump a little next to him. He was more than a little happy to see that Cecilia jumped even higher.

"You do not get to waltz into my life after sixteen years and insult the people I love. Now get the fuck out of my life for good." There was no mistaking the venom in his tone, but obviously Cecilia had no common sense because she just kept going.

"Hil, darling," she said condescendingly as she reached out to pat his leg beneath the blankets. Becker pulled his leg away before she could touch him. The move didn't seem to faze Cecilia in the least, as she just tried to budge Jess over to sit next to Becker. To Jess' credit she refused to move, which forced Cecilia to move around to the other side of the bed. Becker moved towards Jess as much as he physically could. The longer his sister was in the room, the more uncomfortable he became. He was seconds away from calling security to have her physically dragged out if needed.

"Sweetie," Cecilia said as she sat on the bed, "If we're going to introduce you into society, we'll need to work on you manners," Cecilia glanced at Jess once more, "and her wardrobe."  
>Becker tuned out anything else she said after that and hit the call button on the side of his bed. He wasn't entirely surprised to see his newly appointed second in command, Howell, enter a few steps behind the nurse.<p>

"Morning Captain," he said brightly as he passed by the young nurse with a wink. Becker refrained from tolling his eyes when the young woman blushed and let loose a giggle that would have made any twelve year old girl proud.

"Good morning Howell," Jess said brightly, her mood obviously improving upon seeing one of her best friends, "Did you manage to hurt yourself again, or is it Ebola this time?" Becker snorted a little at her question, because basically everyone at the ARC knew Howell had a massive crush on the head medic and was constantly coming up with reasons to be the medical wing. Howell glared playfully at her.

"No," he said, "I'm just here to confirm that the invulnerable Captain is actually injured. There's a pool at work on how soon he'll be back at work." He leaned in close to Jess like he was telling her a secret, "My money's on tomorrow morning. He's none too bright on health care." Howell ducked to avoid the mock swipe that Jess threw at him and Becker's mood lifted just watching them bicker mildly, like family, until Cecilia cleared her throat loudly.

Becker groaned a little as he turned to look at his sister, only to have the groan turn to a growl when he saw the look of derision she was giving Howell.

"Why haven't you left yet?" He asked her, his normally boundless patience already gone.

"Seeing the company you keep," she said with what seemed to be an ever present sneer as she looked Howell over, "It's a good thing I came back when I did. A family of our caliber should only interact with the upper echelon of society. A few Generals and Admirals are acceptable as acquaintances, but anything below a Major isn't worth the effort." Becker took one look at Howell and lost it. His shoulder ached from the force of his laughter, and Jess was looking more than a little worried, but he couldn't stop.

"You do know he's a Captain right?" Howells voice came from his right sounding very confused.

"Don't be stupid," Cecilia snapped, "Of course I know my brother's position. A Captain is higher than a Major obviously. How else could they command a ship." Becker laughed even harder at the incredulous looks on Jess and Howell.

"I guess you got the looks and the brains Sir," Howell said once he realized the humor in the situation, "shall I pull the ship around." Howell tried and failed to keep a straight face, and soon Jess' tinkling laughter joined in. Cecilia was not as amused.

"I will not be mocked by some one of your standing!" she barked with a stomp of her foot. Howell looked over at Becker as if waiting for orders.

"Just get her out of here," Becker said, his laughter winding down as the pain intensified. He saw Howell nod once before he walked over to the chair in the far corner and picked up what he assumed was his sister's purse, though when she had put it down he had no idea.

"Hilary Becker," Cecilia started, pulling herself up to her full pompous height, "We have been estranged far too long, through no fault of my own I might add, and I have decided that it is time for you to accept your proper place in the society our parents enjoyed," She took another contemptuous look at Jess, who had moved so that she could snuggle into Becker's side, "I suppose we can work with her, if you insist, but she'll need a complete makeover and etiquette lessons. You should probably take them to come to think of it."

"I may not have the same etiquette you're used to, but I'll give you one chance to get the hell out of my room and my life before I have you physically thrown out," Becker bit out, feeling truly homicidal for the first time in his life and really wishing he had his favorite shotgun, or at least an EMD. When she simple crossed her arms expectantly, Becker simply nodded to Howell. Before she could turn around by herself, Howell had spun her around and tossed her over his shoulder.

"Excuse me," Howell said before walking out the door with Cecilia's large navy blue bag in hand and her over his shoulder.

"What on Earth! Put me down this instant!" Cecilia screeched in the hallway. Becker did his best to calm the rage that was racing through him, but he couldn't stop his fists from clenching which sent darts of burning pain through his arm and shoulder.

"It's alright," Jess leaned over to whisper in his ear, the feel of her warm breath sending shivers down his spine. She was gently running her hand across his chest and up the sensitive side of his neck, making his heart rate pick up for an entirely different reason. Eventually the hypnotic movements made his muscles relax and he sank further into the bed.

"Thank you," he told her as he leaned in to brush his lips against hers. Her mouth opened to say something once he'd pulled away, but she was interrupted by Dr. Hansen entering the room.

"Alright Captain," he said looking through the chart in his hand, "It looks like you're ready to be discharged. I just need to take one last look at your shoulder and you'll be set."

"Good," Becker said as he pushed himself into a sitting position with his good arm, "I need to get back to work." Jess sighed, dropping her head into her hand.

"Here we go again," she said.


	11. Sudden Changes

**I so sorry it took so long for me to get this chapter out. You can all thank  Prawn Crackers for the sudden update. The PM kicked my ass into high gear. Anyway I've been trying to get into the Police Academy for the last few months, which is a long and involved process and I still won't know for roughly another six months. Add in a 45 hr work week and there's not a lot of time for writing. A huge thank you for everyone who has stuck with me, i will try to continue with more regular updates. Enjoy!**

Jess sighed as her cell phone rang for the fifth time in an hour. With a long suffering sigh she hit the accept button that sent the call directly to her headset.

"Becker, I love you," she said, "But you really have to stop calling me at work." It was a week after Becker had left the hospital, and he seemed to be going stir crazy on his own at the flat. He usually called to get updates on the team and any alerts that happened, but sometime he called her just because he was bored. She glanced quickly around the ops room to see if anyone could catch her making a personal call while on the clock. Rationally she knew no one would really care if she spoke to Becker while at work, but past experiences still made her nervous.

"Can you change our phone number?" he asked her tightly. Jess was surprised she couldn't hear his teeth grinding in her ear.

"Are you alright," Jess was already looking around the room for a tech to take her place in case she had to rush off.

"I haven't the slightest how she got our home number, but she won't stop calling. I thought about disconnecting the phone, but I didn't think you'd like having a large hole in the wall," Becker said tiredly.

"That woman is driving me mad," she seethed into the headset, "and I don't even have to listen to her."

"I took all the firing pins out of my guns," he told her deadpan, "just so I don't shoot her if she shows up." Jess was mildly concerned because she couldn't tell if he was joking or not.

"I doubt she will," she reassured him, "I made sure the house wasn't listed anywhere someone could get access without top level clearance."

"You can do that?" he said with surprise in his voice. Jess shook her head, wondering if her new husband would ever fully grasp just what she could do with virtual information.

"How can you doubt me?" She teased as she typed away at her keyboard, just making sure that no one had accessed their information. She gasped a little when an alert popped up.

"Jess," Becker's concerned voice in her ear had her snapping back to attention, "Are you alright? Is it the baby?"

"Someone found our information," Jess whispered and vaguely heard Becker curse in the background. She tried to hide just how much Cecilia put her on edge. She had done some research during her free time and from what the gossip rags had said, Cecilia was a down right vindictive bitch who loved nothing more than destroying people's reputations. It made her wonder just what Becker's sister would do to them if they kept pissing her off.

"Can you find out it if was her?" He asked tightly. Before Jess could answer, the alarms throughout the ARC started screaming.

"Damn," she sighed, "I have to go, but I'll see you at the doctor's later. I love you."

"Love you too."

Becker sighed and tossed the phone gently up onto the couch from his prone position on the floor. He sighed and resumed the sit ups he'd been doing throughout the morning, something Jess would have frowned on. He'd gotten up to fifty when the phone rang again. A growl ripped from his throat as he collapsed to the soft carpet. He really hoped it was one of his officers, or Jess' sister, because he really couldn't take another call from his sister. Unfortunately it was her voice that came over the answering machine once the ringing stopped.

"Hilary answer the phone," Becker bounced his head softly against the ground a few times when he heard her; "I know you're home. So answer the phone immediately." There was a long pause as both stubborn siblings refused to cave.

"Fine," Cecilia huffed after roughly five minutes of silence, "I had hoped it wouldn't come down to this, but you've forced my hand."

Becker bolted up at that ominous message and reached the phone in seconds. "What the hell are you saying?" He shouted into the mouthpiece, but his sister had already hung up and all he heard was the dial tone. Becker felt a chill race down his spine, which didn't help his shoulder, at the blatant threat and hoped he and Jess could handle whatever his sister decided to through at them.

Three hours after the disturbing phone call Becker was sitting in his truck outside Jess' OBGYN office waiting for her to arrive. His mind was spinning as he tried to decide if he should tell Jess about Cecilia's threat or not. On one hand he wanted her to be prepared for what was coming, but he was terrified that it would be too much stress on her already stressed body. Before he could decide either way Jess zipped into the spot next to him. He was next to her door instantly to help her out, knowing she was beginning to have trouble getting in and out of cars. Jess smiled up at him as she took his hand and emerged from the miniscule car. Becker leaned down to give her a soft kiss, unable to resist the temptation. Much to his surprise, and pleasure, Jess wrapped her arm around his neck and deepened the kiss. One of his hands automatically drifted up to tangle in her hair ashes other arm wrapped around her waist. When they finally parted a few minutes later they were both breathing heavily. Jess giggled and reached up to wipe the remnants of her lipstick from his lips.

"Let's get this over with so I can ravish you," Jess said as she dragged Becker towards the lifts.

"I love pregnancy hormones," Becker said, smiling unrepentantly as he followed behind Jess like an eager puppy.

"You would," Jess said as she hit the button for her doctor's floor and shoved Becker hard against the wall. As soon as her lips hit his, he spun her around and pressed her hard against the cool metal. There was nothing gentle about their kiss, it was pure devouring need. By the time the lift hit their floor, Jess had wrapped one of her legs around Becker's hips, while one of his hands disappeared under her skirt to caress her ass. Her hands were in his back pockets and were pulling him into her. Becker was the one who had to pull away, while Jess whimpered her displeasure.

"We should get to your appointment," Becker said breathlessly as he righted her clothes and pulled her reluctant hands out of his pockets.

"Then right home right?" Jess' pupils were blown wide with lust, and it took all of Becker's training not to hit the emergency stop button and taking her right there.

"Right home," he told her, his voice cracking slightly. As soon as the doors opened, the couple was heading for the check in desk. Luckily for them it was a slow day so they were able to get into an exam room quickly.

Jess was on the table with her shirt pulled up to expose her stomach, with cold gel being applied by the sonogram tech, before they knew it.

"Well," the tech said, "everything looks good. The baby is settled a little far back, so we can't see the back, but we've got a good view between the legs if you want to know the gender." Becker and Jess looked at each other before Jess nodded excitedly. The tech smiled and adjusted the scanner a bit before capturing the image. She pulled the newest printout away from the printer and handed the small stack to Jess.

"There's your son's first portrait," the tech told them with a smile.

"Really," Jess squeaked happily. Becker couldn't do anything to wipe the ridiculous grin off his face, not that he really wanted to. Still smiling, they schedule their next appointment and headed out to their cars.

"Hurry home," Jess said giving Becker a quick peck before unlocking her car. Becker gently grabbed her arm before she got in. As much as he really didn't want to ruin her good mood, he knew he needed to tell her about the message from Cecilia waiting at home.

"Cecilia left a message at the house," he told her gently as he pulled her close, needing her comfort as much as he wanted to comfort her, "She's planning something, but I have no idea what." Jess leaned into Becker, silently telling him that his news was definitely affecting her. He pressed a soft kiss to the top of her head and stayed there, craving the physical connection.

"You okay," he whispered after they had stood silently in the parking garage for a few minutes. She nodded.

"Let's get home," she said sniffing a little. There were tear tracks going down her cheeks and Becker cursed his sister once again for making their already hectic lives even more difficult, "We can talk more there." Becker nodded and helped her settle into her car.

"I'm gonna run to the store on the way," Jess told him, making Becker smile.

"Go get your ice cream," he told her knowing she as having another craving for chocolate and peanut butter ice cream. Jess glared at him playfully at him before closing her door and driving away.

Becker sighed as he stepped onto their floor and heading down the hall to their flat. He slowed as soon as he turned the corner and saw a slightly younger blonde man, with a messenger bag slung over his shoulder, standing in front of his home expectantly.

"Can I help you?" He asked, still keeping himself close to his easiest escape route. The man turned with a startled look on his face.

"Hilary Becker?" He asked cautiously, something that sent a small bolt of satisfaction through Becker.

"That's me," he said marginally relaxing. The young man nodded and handed Becker a manila envelope from his bag.

"You've been served," he said before walking quickly away. Becker stared at the envelope in shock before he flung open his door and ripped it open, nearly spilling the contents. The words on the paper slammed the breath from his body and he slid to the floor in a stupor. The next thing he knew, Jess was shaking his with a look of concern.

"Are you alright?" she asked him, running her fingers through his hair. Becker met her gaze, not even trying to hide the tears suddenly filling his eyes.

"She's suing us for custody of the baby."


	12. Fighting Blind

**Okay, so now I'm getting back into the flow of things. Thanks to everyone who gave me advice on this story and I hope you enjoy. :)**

Jess collapsed into Becker, who wrapped his good arm tightly around her and began rocking gently in an effort to comfort her.

"She won't get near him I swear," Becker said softly, his voice choked with emotion. Jess pulled away to look up at him.

"We won't be able to stop her if she's made up her mind," she gasped out between sobs, "we have to run." By now Jess was in a full blown panic, her breath coming in short, shallow gasps. Becker pulled her in tightly when she tried to scramble to her feet and shook his head aggressively. Becker pressed her head against his chest and picked up a slow steady rhythm of slow, steady breaths and waited until Jess' matched his before speaking.

"Yes we can," he said firmly, "We just-,"

"Did you see who she's married to?" Jess interrupted. Becker shook his head and Jess sighed, tears filling her eyes once again, "Henry Rutledge."

Becker's eyes went wide at the mention of the current favorite to win the next election for Prime Minister. Becker didn't honestly know much about him before the incident with the futuristic spider, but there is a tendency to watch a lot of television when you're injured. All Becker really knew about him was that he was known as a good man, whose main election platform was about preserving education and healthcare for children. A feeling of helplessness washed over him. Basically they were up against someone well-liked by the populous and was much better off financially than he and Jess were. It was going to be a hell of a fight if Cecilia decided to follow through with this.

"I know you wanted to wait, but we need to tell the team," Becker told her without releasing his hold on her. He was a little surprised to feel her nod without hesitation. He had expected at least a little resistnce, or reluctance.

"Call them," she said against the soft fabric of his shirt, "I want to do it tonight." Becker's heart cracked a little at the sound of her tear filled voice. Jess was known for showing her emotions relatively easily, but he could the count on one hand the times she'd cried in sadness or fear.

"I'll fight her and win, I swear," he told her pressing his lips to the top of her head, "If she cheats, so will we. We'll take him and run somewhere that bitch can't touch us." Jess pulled Becker's arm off of her and looked him in the eye before she kissed him, burying her hands in his hair. Becker let himself fall into the kiss and dropped his had to brush gently against the soft skin of her thigh just below her skirt. After a few minutes Becker reluctantly pulled away and brushed his thumb across Jess swollen lips.

"We'll meet with them and Lester tomorrow," he pressed his thumb a little harder against her lips to forstall any arguments, "I have a feeling we'll be needing an ARC lawyer." Jess sighed and dropped her head back against his chest.

"Call April," Jess said making Becker want to slap his head in frustration.

"I can't believe I forgot about her," he said shooting Jess a shocked look. Jess' sister, April, was just as advanced academicaly as Jess had been, only her emphasis had been in law.

"Because I'm the brains of this operation," she told him with a watery giggle, "and we both know it." Becker grinned at her play at humor despite the heart wrenching situation. His smile faded slightly as Jess pushed herself off his lap and started walking towards the hall. Becker scrambled to his feet and grabbed her hand before she could make it too far away from him, turning her to meet his gaze.

"I love you Jess," he told her leaning down to brush his lips against hers again.

"Love you too," she said, "do me a favor and call April while I take a shower." Becker nodded, releasing her hand and watched her disappear into the bathroom. As soon as he heard the water turn on, he pulled out his cell phone and hit speed dial five.

"How's my favorite brother-in-law?" April's usual greeting failed to get the usual reaction.

"My sister is taking us to court," Becker said, fighting back the tears that he refused to shed in front of his wife.

"Tell me everything," Amy said, the lawyer taking over in a split second.

"I haven't seen her in over ten years, and she just walked into my hospital room after the accident." Becker exploded quietly, not wanting Jess to get anymore upset than she already was,"I told her to stay the hell away from us, especially after she kept insulting Jess, but she wouldn't stop." Becker collapsed into the nearest chair as the events of the day finally caught up with him, "We've been ignoring her for the most part, but when I got back from the ultrasound appointment there was a messenger waiting. She's trying to get custody of our son." Becker broke a little at the last word, a tear escaping from each eye to roll down his cheek.

"I'm taking tomorrow off and I'll be over at nine sharp," she said, "So you better have tea and breakfast waiting." Becker laughed a little at her demands.

"Anything you want," he told her honestly, "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Yes,yes," she said, "So much research, so little time. Oh, and don't think you're getting away without explaining this mystery sister."

"Wouldn't dream of it," he assured her before hanging up. Becker tossed the phone gently onto the padded runner on the center of the table and dropped his head into his hands. He glanced at the clock and was surprised it was only eight o'clock. All the overwhelming emotions and fears were making it feel later than normal. The strong pain medications he was still on didn't help his exhaustion at all. Knowing he would have to get up relatively early he decided to throw in the towel for the day and crash. He stopped halfway to the bedroom, and jogged back to the table to grab his phone. He called Lester quickly to fill him on the basics and ask for Jess to have the day off the next day, as well as bringing the team together for a meeting later in the day at his and Jess flat. Lester agreed with a speed that surprised Becker, but he had a feeling it had to do with the fact that it was Jess. He was incredablly greatful that Lester knew about Jess pregnancy. When he finally reached the bedroom, stripping his shirt and sling off along the way, he was surprised to hear the water still running in the bathroom. He tossed his pants into the hamper by the bathroom door, and pushed the door to the ensuite bathroom open. He could see Jess siluetted through the foggy glass sliding door, and that she was sobbing silently. Still in his boxer briefs, he opened the door and walked in to pull Jess up against him. His shoulder twinged a bit at the motion, but he brushed it off to pull her closer. He wrapped one arm around her shoulders, just on top of her breasts, and another to hover protectively over their son. Jess leaned back against him, accepting the strength he offered.

"I can't lose him," she sobbed clutching one of his hands in each of hers. Becker rested his chin on the top of her head, letting her cry out her fear and pain, periodically pressing kisses to her head and neck.

"We won't," he told her firmly once her body had stopped trembling, "April's going to be here in the morning, and we'll come up with a plan of attack." Jess turned in his arms to wrap around him.

"Thank you," she said pressing a kiss to his bare chest, before rubbing her cheek against the spot.

"For what?"

"Being here, being you," Jess looked up to gaze at the face of her husband. It was a very tender and romantic moment, until Jess yawned widely. Becker grinned at the adorable face she made when she did.

"Why don't you head to bed," he told her, running a hand over her dripping hair, "I'll be there in a bit." Jess nodded and stepped out of the stall, wrapping one of the fluffly towels around herself. Becker watched her walk into their bedroom and pull the door closed behind her. The instant the door clicked shut, Becker collapsed to the floor of the shower and he let go. His hands dug into his hair, pulling slightly at the strands, while his tears mixed with the warm water streaming over him.

Ten minutes later, Becker dried himself off and pulled on a pair of soft sleep pants. He sat on the edge of the bed for a moment, wondering if he would actually be able to sleep with everything racing through his mind, until he felt small hands pulling him back by his shoulders.

"You need to sleep," she said, tugging at him until he crept under the covers with her. She kissed his cried out eyes and curled her body into his, once again mind full of his shoulder, "It'll be okay."

Becker wrapped himself around her the best he could in return. Accepting the strength and understanding she now offered.


	13. New Challenge

**Alright, so my roommate has convinced me to sign up for nanowrimo, so I'm going to do my best to finish this story before November, but if I don't there will be no updates in November at all. I'm going to shamelessly plug for reviews, because they really do inspire me to write faster. Anyway, let's see what Cecilia is up to.**

Becker lept from the bed, still mostly asleep, at the sound of the door being thrown violently open. He scrambled for the gun he kept tucked away in his nightstand and quickly loaded the clip. Jess bolted upright on her side of the bed and reached for where Becker had just been.

"What's going on," she said brushing her hair out of her still sleep filled face. Becker was about to warn her to stay quiet when a voice sounded from down the hall.

"Get your sexy asses out here already," the female voie yelled, followed by footsteps heading for the bedroom door, "I'll give you five minutes before I'm coming in." The footsteps retreated and Becker let his head fall back against the mattress, his eyes darting to the clock sitting a few inches away.

"Your sister's here," he told his now giggly wife, looking at her over his forehead. Jess crawled awkwardly across the bed towards him, making her look adorable in his mind, and gave him a lingering upside down kiss. A groan escaped when he saw it was only four in the morning.

"You go," she told him, brushing her nose against his, "I need enough sleep for two." Becker couldn't help but grin at yet another reminder that he was going to be a father. It was something that he'd never thought would happen. He sighed and headed over to the drsser to pull out a clean navy blue shirt. He glance at it for a second before tossing it back into the drawer, a childish part of him wanting April to know she woke them up. Jess was snuggled back under the covers when he turned around and he padded over to the bathroom to brush his teeth, before heading out to the living room to meet his sister-in-law.

"What are you doing here?" he asked the energy filled woman currently pacing the living room of his flat.

"She doesn't stand a chance if she tries to make you and Jess look like unfit parents," she said, ignoring his question and immedietely started shuffing through the mountian of paper work that had suddenly appeared on the dining room table, "The only way she could justify terminating your parental rights would be an extencive criminal record, which neither of you have. She might try to say that your history as a soldier makes you unstable, but that would open up a huge debate on the issue that no judge wants to deal with and, did you say it was a boy?" Becker tried to wrap his mind around what she was saying, since she was a speed demon when it came to talking, and went to speak. Unforunately April beat him to the punch.

"And what about this mystery sister that suddenly popped up. Why is this the first I'm hearing about her. I know you didn't tell Jess, because she would have told me instantly. I mean, I knew about you the day you first showed up at work. It was all she could talk about. Becker's georgous, and sweet, and sexy, and-,"

"April," Becker barked sharply, making her spin to face him, "How much coffee have you had?"

"Only two or three," April said trying to look innocent. Becker raised an eyebrow and she sighed, "pots, but I've been up all night."

"So basically she doesn't have much of a chance," he asked her, needing to be sure.

"She would need to come up with some pretty damning evidence for it to even make it to court."

"Right," he said gently taking her by the arm and leading her over to the couch, "get some sleep. We'll finish this in a few hours."

"But we have so much more to go over," she said trying to get back to the paper laden table, but Becker was having none of it.

"Yes," he said still leading her to the couch, "and we'll go over everythingwhen it's not three in the morning." April seemed to jump and swung her head around to try to find the nearest clock. If becker wasn't so tired, he might have laughed when he saw her eyes widen in what he would guess was shock.

"Oh," she breathed, and gave up on resisting the process towards the couch, "Okay, sleep." She collapsed onto the couch without another argument, while Becker stuck one of the throw pillows under her head and covered her with one of the knitted blankets his mother had sent. Becker shook his head when he saw that she was out as soon as her head hit the pillow, and walked down the hall towards his beconing bed. The lights were still out, but thankfully his training had prepared him for finding his way in the dark. Just not for when his wife left her shoes scattered across the floor. Biting back a curse at the feel of rindstones digging into the bottom of his feet, he hobbled to the edge of the bed and sank down into the soft mattress Jess had insisted on. Crawling under the covers, Becker pulled Jess against him and buried his nose in her hair. Jess snuggled closer to him in her sleep and muttered something about shoes, making Becker smile. He drifted off to sleep with a feeling a sence of peace drifting over him.

Jess woke to the smell of bacon and promptly raced to the bathroom. With a soft groan, she wondered if she was going to get over the sencetivty to smell during her pregnancy. Unsuprisingly, Becker was next to her with a glass of water and a cool cloth resting on the back of her neck before she was even finished bringing up the remnants of last night's dinner.

"As much as I love the baby," she said, chancing a look up at him, "I really hate this part." Becker chuckled and pressed a kiss to the top of her head.

"Just come out when you're ready," he told her, before heading towards the kitchen. Seconds late the sounds of windows made her grin, one more thing that made her love Becker just a little more.

Jess groaned when she caught sight of the clock they kept in the bathroom, that told her it was only seven in the morning. She and Becker had both gone to slepp relatively early the night before, but everything they were dealing with had left her drained, which couldn't be good for the baby. Jess wondered if Cecilia had thought about that before embarking on this mad crusade of hers.

"I actually want to kill her," Jess muttered to herself before flushing the loo and made her way to the kitchen.

To say April and Becker were different was like saying Grizzly Bears and Teddy Bears were the same thing. Completely untrue. April was a lot like Jess, but a bit more free spirited. While Jess had no trouble working for large corperations, or the government, April prefered to donate her time and expertise. The easiest thing to call her was a non conformist. The only time she 'bent to the oppressive thumb of the world's was in court, where she wore suits. As excentric as she was, April was anything but illogical, she new no judge would take her serious if she walked in wearing a ripped T-shirt reading 'taste the freedom'. Jess had expected many, many issues when she had announced she was marrying a soldier, and one with a classified job at that, but she was surprised to find that April absolutely adored Becker. Jess was positive it had something to do with her extolling Becker's protective instinct, especially when it involved her. Unfortunately, the feeling was not immediately mutual as Becker had no idea how to handle the tiny woman who had flung herself at him the first time they met. It was honestly one of the funniest things Jess had ever seen. Jess may have been vertically challanged, as she preferred to call it, but she still topped April by a few inches. Jess had brought Becker to meet her family a few weeks before the wedding and no sooner was he through the door then April launch herself at him in a whirlwind of auburn curls. Honed reflexes allowed Becker to get a hold of her before she fell, but the look of shock and slight terror was captured forever on film. Which Jess had safely hidden away in case the need for blackmail ever arose.

Luckily by the time she made it out to the front of the flat, the overpowering smell of bacon had dissapated. Jess was thrilled to discover that Becker had remembered that her breakfast of choice had changed once again. He had her oatmeal waiting for her, complete with dried cherries, along with a glass of pinapple juice. Her sister took one look at it from across the table and shuddered.

"That's one of the strangest combinations I have ever seen," she said as she took her seat across from her. Becker slid into his customary chair next to his wife, brushing a kiss across her temple as he sat. Jess wrinkled her nose a bit at the sight of bacon and eggs, but the smell didn't bother her as much once it stopped cooking.

"It's strange, but it tastes amazing," Jess told her as she took a large bite. She could hear Becker chuckle next to her as he dug into his own breakfast. Jess finished chewing up the rather overly large bite, before turning her attention towards her younger sister.

"What do you have for us," she asked, not wanting to waste anytime when it came to the safety of her child. April didn't seem bothered by the sudden question.

"I'm still waiting on some of the final paperwork," she told them. Becker had stopped eating compleately and had his entire focus on April, while Jess steadily worked on her breakfast.

"I'm stil waiting on getting the rest of the paperwork, but a friend of mine works for your sister's lawyer so I should get it sometime today." April glanced at the clock on the wall, "It should be coming through any minute. i gave him your fax number."

"We have a fax machine?" Becker asked, looking mildly shocked and a little confused. April and Jess both laughed, Jess felt a little bad for laughing at Becker's expence, but he was so cute when he was at a loss.

"Yes, Becker, we have a fax machine, but it's usually turned off," She said squeezing his hand affectionately, then suddenly jumped when the fax machine let out a high pitched pattern of tones alerting them to an incoming message.

"That's for me," April sang, bouncing out of her chair and skipping to the machine.

"She is beyond strange," Becker muttered resting his head next to his plate on the table.

"Most people think we're quite similar," Jess teased, mildly enjoying his confusion. She couldn't help but feel more at ease now that she knew Cecilia's case was rather weak.

"Yes," he said, "but you're cute strange. She's just strange." Before Jess could say anything else, April arrived back at the table with a freshly printed stack of papers.

"Okay," she said, shuffling through the papers, "It looks like she's basing her argument on Becker having violent tendencies." Jess had been in the middle of taking a sip of her juice, and proceded to spray it across the table. Becker was on his feet in less than a second, quickly avoiding the flying juice and making sure Jess wasn't choking.

"What?" she nearly screamed when she could catch her breath, "Why the hell would she say that?"

"Like I thought, she's claiming that Becker's military background has made him unstable," April frowned as she flipped through more pages, "and it looks like she has a witness who's willing to testify that he's dangerous."

"Who?" Becker asked, his face expressionless.

"Private Daniel Jenkins."


	14. A Light In The Dark

**Okay so here's the next chapter. I hope you enjoy!**

**Side note for juls124: nanowrimo is National Novel Writing Month. When you sign up you're supposed to begin writing a novel from the start and finish it in the month. (November) I haven't ever done it yet, but I'm hoping to this year. Wish me luck. :)**

Jess was furious to say the least, and was a little shocked when Becker merely scoffed. She glanced at him, raising her eyebrows in question, and Becker simply shrugged.

"He's not much of a threat," he told both women, "No one would take him seriously. He just go disciplined for conduct unbecoming after he repeatedly insulted Jess, and-,"

"Well that will certainly knock his credibility down a bit when he testifies," April interrupted. Becker raised an eyebrow at her and she quickly snapped her mouth shut with a slightly apologetic look on her face.

"As I was saying," Becker snipped, "He can't even testify without violating his nondisclosure agreement." At this point April and Jess were grinning broadly.

"So she basically has no case," April sounded absolutley giddy at this point, "I'll enter a motion for dismissal." She said darting away from the table. Faster than Becker had ever seen her move, April grabbed her purse and was out the door.

"Well that was interesting," Jess said as she finished off the remnants of her oatmeal. Becker saw her shoulder's droop when she put down her spoon.

"What if he decides to still testify," she asked quietly with fear evident in her voice. Becker slid out of his chair to kneel on the floor next to her, and started rubbing her calf soothingly.

"Then we show everyone that they can't believe a word he says," he told her, "If it comes down to it, the team can testify and they know me a lot better than that fucker."

"Language," Jess muttered off handedly. Becker smiled as the image of her telling their son the same thing a few years down the road popped into his head.

"Sorry," he said, rubbing the back of her knee gently making her jump. It was one of the few ticklish spots he'd found, and he was more than happy to exploit them when she was unhappy. As usual it worked. He couldn't help but smile at her soft giggle as she pushed his hand away, "Go get ready and we'll head in to talk to the team." Jess nodded and headed to their room to get dressed.

Becker sat at the table as he waited for Jess to finish the last touches as she liked to call them, and he couldn't stop his mind from wandering to the different senarios that could come from April's discussion with the judge. The best outcome he could hope for would be having the suit thrown out compleately, but Becker refused to let himeslf build up that kind of hope. He'd seen, and had, it ripped away too many times before to go through it again.

A shudder raced through him at the thought of his son torn from Jess' arms the second he's born and handed off to his maniacal aunt. There was no way he was going to let that happen, no matter what would have to be done. His eyes wandered to the hall closet where he'd already hidden two suitcases of clothes for the three of them, and a dufell bag full of the money he'd been saving since he joined the militry. He wondered if Jess suspected what was hidden. She'd already been in that closet once since they'd been put in and she hadn't asked any questions so far.

Jess' hand on his shoulder made him leap to his feet, his hands instantly going for a weapon that wasn't there. It was a grim reminder of just how much this situation was affecting him.

"You alright?" she asked resting a hand on his chest. Becker nodded, pulling her closer and kissing her softly. "Ready?" He asked after he pulled away. Jess hitched her purse higher onto her shoulder and took his hand, pulling him towards the door. Becker chuckled and pressed a kiss to palm as he followed her out the door.

It didn't take long for them to reach the ARC, and the tension radiating from Jess was thick, even in the truck's extended cab. Becker was pretty sure that it came from Jess' fear of their friends' reaction to them keeping their impending parenthood a secret.

"Hey," he said,"It'll be okay." He walked around to the passenger side of the car and helped Jess out. They made their way to the lifts and headed to face their friends.

"What?" Abby shouted jumping to her feet. Becker dropped his head onto his hands as his elbows rested on his knees. _So much for them taking it well_, he thought to himself. Connor's jaw was collecting fibers off of Lester's expencive rug, while his fiancee paced the expanse of the room. Emily was comforting an obviously shaken Jess, he knew there was a reason he liked her despite her inability to follow orders. Matt was, well, Matt. He simply nodded, congradulated them, and asked how he could help once they explained about Cecilia.

"Oh will you sit down Miss Maitland," Lester barked. Becker was as surprised as the rest of the team at Lester's sudden loss of control, however minute. Lester looked mildly surprised himself before clearing his throat, "You're worrying Jess."

Howell snorted as Abby's head snapped back around to look at Jess, who was reasting her head on Katie's shoulder, a few tears escaping her eyes. Abby's frown softened to a sympathetic look.

"Sorry Jess," she said moving to sit next to her on the couch that had been pulled into the office for the meeting. Becker stood to make room for her, "I just can't believe anyone would do what she's doing to you."

"Can we push her through an anomoly?" Connor piped up, effortlessly lightening the mood in the room.

"Unfortunately Temple, we don't have that option," Lester told him, not looking entirly pleased with the fact himself, "So what do you have planned." The last part of his statement was directed at Becker.

"We need to bring Jenkins in again," Becker started, only to be interupted by a bewildered looking Howell.

"What does he have to do with this?" he asked.

"Apparently Jenkins somehow got in contact with Cecilia, or the other way around, and now he's been called to testify that I'm violent and unstable."

"Well we can't have that," Lester said hitting the intercom button on his desk.

"Ashley," he called out to his P.A., "Get Private Jenkins back in here now!"

"Yes sir," came the soft spoken reply.

"Now you two go back home," he told Jess and Becker, "It would be better legally if you weren't here when I speak to him." Becker nodded and stood, offering a hand to lead Jess back out to the car. Becker was surprised when Jess used his hand to stand and then dropped it to walk over to Lester. The entire team dropped their jaws in shock when Jess wrapped her arms around Lester. Lester awkwardly patted the pale arm clinging to him.

"Thank you Lester," she said softly.

"Alright," he said gingerly peeling Jess of him and handing her off to her husband, "Enough of that. You'll wrinkle the suit."

The team laughed and headed out the door. The rest of the team walked the couple to the lifts.

"Don't think you're getting away without a baby shower," Abby told her sternly.

"You're not mad?" Jess clutched a little tighter to Becker as if she was afraid of what Abby might say. It made Becker a little worried. It was like the normally bubbly, confident Jess was vanishing. He could only hope she'd come back when all this shit that was flying around went away.

"Course not," Abby said, stealing Jess away from Becker, "We're family. Even if we are mad, we don't stay mad for long."

"What is a baby shower?" Emily asked. Katie laughed from where she stood behind the Victorian woman.

"And on that note," Abby said linking her arms with Jess and Emily, "I think we need a little girl time." Becker watched as the three of them walked away. He shrugged and decided to head down to the armory, just get up to date for when he finally got back to work. Just before he walked through the door to what Jess liked to call his lair, his phone rang. The small device was next to his ear in a second, when he saw April's name flashing on the screen.

"What happened," he said, forgoing formalities.

"He through out the suit," she squealed so loudly that Becker had to hold the phone away from his ear to protect his eardrum, but nothing could wipe the sudden grin off his face. Before he could say anything in responce, he felt his knees collapse in relief. He hit the floor hard, jolting the air from his lungs.

"Becker," April's voice drifted out of the phone that lay a foot away from him on the cool floor, "You still there?" Becker snagged the phone without having to move too much.

"Yeah," he told her, "I'll let Jess know."

"Tell her I'm starting on a restraining order, and possibly even a no contact order," she told him.

"Thank you, April."

"It's what family does," she told him, "Now go tell my sister before she has a meltdown." The line clicked off, signalling an end to the conversation. Becker stuck the phone in his pocket and dropped his head to his hands in relief.

"Good or bad Sir," Becker's head shot up when he heard Howell's voice above him. His second in command was leaning against the wall near him waiting for his reply. Becker struggled to push himself up, only to be hindered by his sling. With a muffled curse he ripped it off. He didn't really need it anymore anyway. Howell held out a helping hand, which Becker reluctantly took.

"Good," Becker told his second when he finally got to his feet, "Very good. Any idea where the girls are?"

"I think they're in the break room," Howell said nodding down the hall. Becker clapped him on the shoulder and headed off to find his wife.

When he found her, she was sitting and laughing with the rest of the girls. He didn't have the heart to interupt what was most likely one of the few worry free moments she'd had for the last few months.

"I have to give a message to someone," he told Howell, "Wanna come?" Howell's answering grin was all he needed. He dialed Abby's number as they headed towards the parking garage.

"Abby, I've got to do something really quickly," he said, "If Jess asks, tell her I'll be back to pick her up soon."

Twenty minutes later the two soldiers pulled up infront of a mansion in Knightsbridge. There were two gardeners tending to the pristine landscaping, and a painter touching up the paint on the crown molding around the windows and doors. It was like looking at a magazine cover, beautiful and sterile. Ignoring the stares of the men in the yard, Becker and Howell marched up to the front door. They groaned when the door bell played "God Save The Queen" and waited for someone to answer the door. Becker wasn't surprised in the least when a maid answered the door.

"Can I help you?" She looked rather frightened by the two imposing men standing in the doorway, so Becker did his best to look friendly.

"I need to speak to Cecilia," he told her, "I'm her brother." The maid nodded once.

"Wait here," she said before closing the door.

"Friendly lot aren't they?" Howell said looking over his shoulder at the three men who had religiously returned to thier work.

"Cecilia's influence no doubt," Becker muttered under his breath. Seconds later, the door opened and they were greeted by the frowning face of Cecilia Rutledge.

"Have you come to your sences finally?" she asked Becker, before she turned to Howell, "And you, get off my property now or I'll be forced to phone the police."

"Shut up," Becker snapped. Cecilia looked at him in shock, "Any minute now, you'll get a call from your lawyer telling you that the custady suit has been thrown out and that my sister-in-law is filing a no contact order against you." Becker advanced on her, not caring how threatening he looked, "If you ever treaten my family again, I'll show you just what I learned in the SAS."

"But...,I...," she stammered at the fierce look on Becker's face.

"Do you understand?" Becker growled.

"Yes."


	15. Collision Course

**Not much of an AN here. Just enjoy!**

Jess was practically skipping down the hall, she actually would be if her eight month belly would let her. It had been two month since Cecilia's failed attempt to rip her family apart and they hadn't heard from her since. She and Becker had plans to go out to dinner, since it would be a while before they would be able to again. Though some of her good mood might have been from hauling Becker into one of the many storage rooms to appease a certain pregnancy cravings.

The blaring alarms and flashing lights pulled a groan from her throat, before she shuffled her way to the ADD. When she finally got there, one of the techs was running through the programs to get the location of the anomaly. Jess rubbed her sore back, not looking forward to sitting in that chair again no matter how comfortable it had seemed in the past. At least she had found the heating pad in her locker to help with the random spasming.

"Thank you Amy," she told the woman, "I can take it from here." The other woman hopped out of the chair just as most of the team made it to the Ops room.

"Where's Becker?" Connor asked looking around the room, "He's usually the first one here."

"I'm right here Temple," Becker said as he walked through the door, tucking his shirt in. He looked up to see the entire team staring at him open mouthed, "What?"

"Nothing mate," Matt said, "You just look...," Becker rolled his eyes at Matt's inability to finish his sentance.

"Spit it out," Becker snapped.

"You look disorderly," Emily said bluntly, "It is unusual to see you so." Jess held back a giggle as Becker finished strapping on his tactical vest before running his fingers through his hair in a hapazard effort to bring it to heel. Luckily for Becker the ADD let out a sharp chirp as it identified the location of the anomaly.

"Alright the location's been sent to your sac-nav," Jess told them, distracting them from Becker's unusual appearance, "it's a bit of a drive, so you'd better get going." The team gathered the equipment they needed and headed out the door, after Becker swooped in to give her a soft kiss, placing his hand against where their son had been kicking the night before. It had become a habit for him since the first time he'd felt a kick.

_Jess sighed as the warm water ran over her after what seemed like a never ending day. There had only been one alert, and not a dangerous one at that, but the small herbivores had caused so much damage to a country club that she was still gng through paperwork. Her back was aching more than normal when she mixed her growing pregnancy and hunched over Lester's desk, so she turned the showerhead to the massage setting and let it ease most of the tension. The shower door slid open, but Jess ignored it until she saw a naked Becker standing in front of her._

_"Nice view," she said, smiling when he chuckled. He lifted her arms to drape over his shoulders so she could lean against him and let the water hit the muscles of her lower back._

_"Feeling any better?" He asked her and she snorted._

_"I don't think I'll feel better until I push this baby out," she told him. Becker responded by pulling her closer to him, a move that made the little boy inside her release a flurry of kicks, "He won't stop kicking me." _

_Becker's sudden stillness made her look up in concern. "Are you alright?" She asked._

_"He moved right?" Becker's voice was filled with a quiet awe. Jess furrowed her brow and looked down at where her son was safely nestled._

_"He's always moving," she said, "How'd you know?" Becker dropped to his knees in front of her to press his ear against her skin._

_"I felt him," he said smiling up at her, "I finally felt him." Jess couldn't help but smile at his sudden giddyness. She felt their son move again and shifted her husband's head so it pressed against the spot. His thrilled laughter bounced off the tile in their midsized bathroom._

Shaking herself out of her revery, she turned back to the multiple screens and jolted when she realized Becker had left his black box behind. Grabbing it with a sigh Jess hauled herself out of her chair and jogged to catch up to the team. The lift doors were closing behind them when she finally caught sight of them, and she waved to get their attention. Becker stuck his hand on the door to stop it from closing compleately.

"You forgot your-," Jess was cut off as she collided with a pair of scientists who were engrosed in their conversation. She managed to remember enough of the self defence lessons Becker had drilled into her, and avoided slamming her head into the hard floor, but she couldn't stop herself from falling compleately. She hit the ground hard on her hip, making her back protest the rough treatment.

"Ow," she said, her arms instantly wrapping protectively around her belly.

"Jess!" The sound of fast, heavy footsteps registered partially in her awareness, but she was to busy waiting to feel her son move to pay any attention, "Jess, are you alright?"

"I'm fine," she told him, grabbing onto his forearm, "I think."

"You think?" Becker asked, sounding more than a little unsure.

"I'll feel better when I feel the baby move," she said starting to rub her hand over her belly.

"Get Katie," Becker barked and Jess heard boots racing away. Jess jumped a little when Matt spoke from next to her, not realizing he'd even gotten out of the elevator.

"We've gotta go," he said, "Becker, you staying?"

Jess knew that Becker felt torn between caring for her and running off to save the day. "Go Becker," she told him, "I'll get checked out in Medical and I'll be back on the radio in no time."

"Jess, I...," Becker stammered.

"I'm fine," she stressed, giving him a little push, "go." With a sigh Becker swooped down and kissed her before racing away with the rest of the team.

"I thought I would have to use the jaws of life to get him away from you," Katie said as she squatted next to her.

"He gets a little protective," Jess told her wincing as a sharp pain lanced through her abdomen. Katie frowned and placed her hand above Jess.

"Contraction?" She asked signaling over another medic with a gurney.

"I don't think so," she said as two male medics lifted her onto the gurney, much to her chagrin, "My doctor says contractions come in waves, that was sharp. Ohhhh," Jess groaned as another sharp pain ripped into her side. She grabbed onto Katie's hand like it was a lifeline.

"Jess?" Katie asked without complaining about the vice like grip, "Can you tell me what's going on?"

"Same pain, same place," she gasped.

"Let's get her going," she told the medics who were straping her down on her side. Once she was secured the younger of the medics draped a white sheet over her, "What type of pain is it?" She asked Jess.

"Sharp," Jess told her, "like something's tearing. Am I going to lose him?" Katie looked taken aback by the sudden change in direction. Her eyes filled with sympathy as she looked at Jess.

"We'll get you down to Medical, do an ultrasound and see where we are." She told her,"Do you want me to call Becker?" Jess shook her head.

"No, not until we know more." Jess told her. Both women fell silent as the medics wheeled Jess into the lift and hit the button for the Medical level. Jess closed her eyes against the dropping sensation that she'd become sensative to during the last trimester. Her eyes snapped back open when she felt the sheet covering her get ripped away.

"Any more pain Jess?" Katie asked her with a frown, her eyes glued to Jess legs.

"Not really. Why-,"Jess cut off abruptly when she saw the growing blood stain around her legs, "Oh God!"


	16. Waiting Game

Becker glared at the glowing ball of light that looked deceptively innocent. A small part of him was pissed that nothing dangerous had come through so he didn't get to shoot anything, and he really wanted to shoot something. He'd regretted leaving the ARC almost as soon as his truck had left the parking lot, even before actually, but it had been too late to turn back.

"Any word on Jess yet Amy?" Becker asked for the fifth time over the comms.

"You'll know as soon as I do Sir," she told him once again.

"We'll be back soon mate," Matt told him, "You could just head back now." Becker glared at the other man, though he was seriously tempted to take him up on his offer.

"I'll stay," Becker told him, "We don't even know if anything's wrong."

"You're sure?" Matt asked.

"Jess would have called," Becker told him, though his voice was a little shaky.

"Becker come in." Becker tapped his earpiece in response.

"Go for Becker," he said.

"Orders for you to report directly to St. Bart's Emergency, code three." Becker was tossing his EMD to Matt and sprinting towards the truck at top speed, his heart rate rocketing skyward.

"Copy," he told Amy, "On my way." Becker licked him lips, almost afraid to ask the next question on his mind, "Any idea what's going on?"

"Negative Sir." The response was not what he wanted to hear, and he cursed as he took a sharp turn. The normally twenty minute drive was shortened to eleven due to a complete disregard of traffic laws. He was lucky enough to find a parking spot relatively near the entrance and he threw the truck into park. The ER was crowded and loud when Becker burst through the automatic doors. His military brain absorbed the fact that there were people looking at him with fear in their eyes, but he dismissed it and focused on the reception area instead.

"I'm looking for my wife," he told the young woman who was staring at a computer screen, "She would have arrived withing the last half hour." The woman looked at him with dispassionate eyes, which only served to grate on Becker's nerves.

"Name?" She asked, smacking away at her gum.

"Jessica Becker," he told her. His palms started to sweat as he watched her type away at the keyboard. Becker took a second to look her over. The first thing he noticed was the large patch on her breast pocket that read "Student" in large block letters. He absently wondered if she was going to give him a hard time. He nearly lost his mind when she stopped typing to answer the phone.

"She's pregnant," he told her as soon as she was off the phone, hoping it would make it go faster. After a few more minutes of searching, she looked up.

"I'll have one of the orderlies take you to the waiting room," she told him waving over a scrub clad young man, "and her doctor should be in to speak to you shortly."

"Can't I just go to her room?" He asked, his normally cool facade beginning to crumble.

"I'm sorry sir, that's not possible." She told him while pointing the orderly in the direction of the waiting room.

"That's ridiculous " he scoffed. His temper was beginning to run out and he was seconds away from calling in a team to help him find Jess. He was pretty sure that Lester would be less than pleased, but he did seem to have a soft spot for Jess so it might be alright.

"Take me to my wife," he bit out through clenched teeth. Becker could see the nurse roll her eyes, which only served to tighten his jaw further.

"Mr. Becker," she said tersely "If you'll go to the waiting room, someone should be with you soon." With that she turned back to her console. Becker roughly shook off the orderly's hand when he tried to pull him towards the waiting room.

"It's Captain Becker, SAS," he growled, "and if you don't take me to my wife right now, I will bring out a squad of special forces soldiers to search the hospital for her." Becker advanced on the stunned nurse.

"I..., I...," the woman stuttered. Before Becker could get any closer, a slightly older woman stepped between them.

"I'll take it from here Sarah," she told the younger woman, "Print out her file for me and bring it to the waiting room." Withering under the older woman's harsh glare, the receptionist scudded back to her desk and resumed her position.

"No need for soldiers Captain," she said turning her attention back to him, "Let's head to the waiting room while we wait for your wife's information." Sensing Becker's hesitation she gave him a gentle nudge in the right direction. "I can't tell you anything until I have her file," she told him, "You might as well be comfortable while you wait." With a heavy sigh Becker nodded and headed down the hall she'd indicated.

After roughly ten minutes of waiting, pacing, sitting and standing, she finally entered the room. Having Just sat down the second before the nurse entered, Becker sprang up as if he'd sat on a burning stove.

"Where is she?" he asked heading for the door on instinct. The nurses small hand against his chest stopped him.

"She's in surgery," Becker's knees gave out at her words and he sank quickly back into the chair.

"What? Why?"

"All I know is there was a complication with the pregnancy and she started bleeding. That, along with an increase in fetal distress, forced the doctors to do an emergency c-section." Becker could hear her, but his head was beginning to spin more with each new knife of information she sent into him.

"What happens next?" he asked, his voice beginning to crack.

"Unfortunately we wait," she told him, taking one of his hands, "I'll try to keep you updated, and the doctor will come speak to you when she's out of surgery " Becker nodded absently, barely noticing when she left, with words like bleeding, fetal distress swirling in his brain. All he could do was wait and hope he had a family when all this was over.


	17. Bated Breath

**Finally! Okay here's the next chapter, I'll try to get the next one out soon. My life is going to get crazy for the next six months or so. After years of being too scared to take the risk, I've decided to move across the country to a MUCH smaller city to return to school, so I've gotten a second job to help with expenses. I'll be working 50-60 hrs a week, so not a lot of time to write but I'll do what I can. Enjoy!**

Jess woke slowly, blissfully numb all over. She frowned at the rhythmic beeping that had become all to familiar since she'd married Becker. It instantly told her she was in a hospital, a realization that had her hands darting down to her now much smaller belly.

"Oh God, Oh God," she whispered, desperately racking her mind for the events leading to her being here.

_"What's going one?" Jess asked frantically, her heart starting to race at the sight of the blood spreading slowly over the sheets._

_"We're gonna find out as soon as we get to medical, jess," Katie told her. The medic's eyes were glued to the door._

_"Let's get her moving," Katie barked as soon as the door opened and they were racing off down the hall, the medics shouting for people to get out of their way. Katie started shouting information the instant the gurney hit the medical bay doors._

_"Twenty four-year old female, approximately thirty-two weeks, presenting with vaginal bleeding after a fall. Possible placental abruption. No other signs of obvious trauma."_

_"Get an ultrasound machine in here," one of the doctor called out while walking over to Jess' gurney, "How much blood has she lost?"_

_"Roughly five hundred cc's," Katie told her while pulling on a fresh pair of gloves. Before the doctor could say anything else, the doors burst open and a nurse pushed in the ultra sound machine. Jess wasn't sure if she'd ever seen a more welcome sigh than that machine._

"_Keep an eye on the bleeding Katie," the doctor said as she and the nurse began hooking up different wires and pulling out what Jess knew would be incredibly cold gel, "Sorry Jess." _

_Jess winced a little as the cold gel hit her skin, but the pain in her abdomen kept her from moving too much._

_"She still bleeding," Katie called out from somewhere by her legs. Neither Jess or the doctor moved their gazes away from the blurry screen._

_"Prep a rig to take her to St. Barts," the doctor told her, "we aren't prepared for a Cesarian if she needs one."_

_"Cesarian?" Jess whimpered resting her hand on the top of her stomach, keeping her shirt away from the gel. _

_"You were right Katie," the doctor said, "I found the abruption sight. It's approximately three inches and what the hell?" the doctor's voice trailed off. Katie and Jess' heads snapped towards the third woman._

_"What?" Katie said, moving towards the machine._

_"I've got two heads," the doctor outlined two distinct shapes on the grainy screen._

The sudden revelation had Jess frantically pounded at call button, desperate to talk to someone who could tell her the rest of what happened. Looking at the tiny image on the screen was the last thing she remembered. The rhythmic beeping became faster the longer the door to her room stayed closed.

"Hello? Is someone there?" She shouted when no one answered the call button after a few minutes. Seconds later a nurse burst through the door, followed closely by a worried looking Becker. When their eyes met Jess could see a wave of relief flow through him, before it was quickly brought back under his façade of control.

"Are you alright?" he asked taking a seat on the bed next to her.

"What happened?" Jess asked, not particularly caring who answered.

"I'll get the doctor," the nurse scampered out the door, leaving Jess and Becker alone. Jess was quickly losing her battle to hold back tears.

"All they told me is that the fall made something go wrong," Becker told her, looking close to tears himself, "You passed out from blood loss on the way here for an emergency Caesarian. They said the babies were in trouble."

"Where are they?" Jess sobbed, burying her head into Becker's shoulder when he pulled her close.

"I don't know," he whispered into her hair, "They told me there were two, and that they'd both been taken to the NICU." Jess sobbed harder, soaking the collar of her husband's shirt.

"Why didn't we know we have two babies?" She asked, "Do we even know if the other one is a boy or girl?"

"They haven't told me anything." The two of them waited silently for what seemed like hours for someone to tell them what was happening with their newborns.

Jess had been asleep for roughly fifteen minutes, and Becker was beginning to nod off, when the doctor finally arrived. Becker jolted up, despite the doctor's attempt to close the door quietly. Jess mumbled and squirmed a little in his arms, before settling back into the pillows. Becker hated to wake her, but he knew she would want to hear what the doctor had to say. He took a deep breath, a large part of him simply wanting to crawl in with her and pretend none of this was happening. But he knew she would want to know what the doctor had to say, and shook her gently awake.

"What's going on?" Jess mumbled rubbing her eyes. She tried to sit up, only to stop short and place a hand on her stomach.

"Your incision is going to be sore for a few days, so I wouldn't recommend trying to sit up. Becker stifled a smile at the sad excuse for a glare Jess sent the doctor's way. Jess was about as intimidating as a squirrel.

"I don't care," she bit out, "Where are my babies?" Becker was surprised, and impressed, that she could get that much aggression in her voice. Then again, he'd always been warned not to get between a mother and her children. He had a feeling if someone didn't tell them about the babies soon Jess would literally tear the hospital apart to find them, and he would help.

"The NICU," the doctor said, drawing a gasp from Jess and Becker was pretty sure the only reason he was still standing was the desire to be strong for Jess. Just because it made sense for them to be there didn't make it any easier to hear.

"Are they okay?" Becker asked tensing until he felt Jess squirming in discomfort. He kissed her forehead in apology and turned his attention back to the doctor.

"Your son is fine, but we're being cautious. He's small, just under five pounds, but stable. It shouldn't be long before he can go home." The doctor sighed, obviously used to giving bad news, but not liking it in the least, " The real concern is your daughter."


	18. Love At First Sight

**Sorry it took so long to get this chapter out. I hope I haven't lost anyone because of it. I got caught up in rewriting Living With A Lie so I can try to publish it as a stand along novel. I will be removing three of my stories before I submit it, just so everyone knows, and I will try to get the next chapter of this story out at a quicker pace than last time. Enjoy!**

Becker rested his head against the glass separating him from his baby girl. His son had been cleared medically, and was currently with Jess for the time being, but they were going to keep him in the NICU for the time being. Their little girl hadn't been as lucky.

"You alright mate?" Matt's familiar Irish brogue washed over him. It was surprizingly comforting, not that he'd ever tell the team leader that.

"Not really," he admitted, "The doctors think her growth is at least a month behind Daniel."

"How does that happen?"

"Something called hyperovulation," Becker swore as he took in the machines surrounding the two pound girl, "She can't even breathe on her own."

"She'll be fine mate," Matt said giving Becker's shoulder a supportive squeeze.

"I hope so," Becker frowned as his breath fogged up the glass, blocking the view of his daughter. He pulled back just far enough to wipe away the condensation, before pressing his forehead back against the cool glass.

"She stopped breathing," Becker muttered, "Long enough that there might be brain damage.

_"What do you mean? What's wrong?" Jess demanded. The doctor sighed._

_"Her lungs aren't strong enough to function properly without support, so we had to hook her up to a ventilater. Unfortunately there is a high possibility that she may have some brain damage from the lack of oxygen," he said. Jess couldn't hold it in anymore and she succumed to tears as Becker wrapped his arms around her._

_"What do we do next?" Becker asked._

_"Unfortunately all we can do is wait," the doctor told him with a sympathetic shrug, "We won't know the extent of the damage until she's healthy enough for us to run some tests."_

_"You don't have any ideas," Becker pushed desperate for anykind of answer. The doctor sighed, obviously reluctant to say anything that could cause problems at a later date._

_"There are early signs that her hearing might have been effected by the oxygen deprivation," The doctor told him, "but, like I said, we won't know to what extent until we can run some tests._

"I'm going to have to start learning sign language," Becker muttered again, not taking his eyes off the tiny girl hooked up to monitors and machines.

"She might come out with no side effects," Matt said moving up to stand next to him, "She's gorgous mate."

"Looks just like Jess," Becker said with a wide grin, "take off that hat, and she has almost as much hair as her mother." Despite the grin, he was having a hard time keeping the tears of fear and frustration at bay.

"Have you been in to see her yet?"

"The doctor's didn't want any visitors until they finished their evaluation and finished hooking her up to all those things." He said with a wave of his hand in the general direction.

"Shouldn't you be with Jess and your son?" Matt asked. Becker shook his head.

"She wanted me to keep an eye on her. Plus Connor and Abby are with her." A sudden change in the steady beeps coming from one of the machines connected to his daughter sent Becker's heart racing into overdrive. The comotion caught the attention of a nurse wearing a yellow paper gown and she wandered over to the baby girl's incubator. After pressing a few buttons on the machine and checking the wires attached to the infant's tiny chest the woman caught Becker's eye and sent him a gentle nod. A sigh of relief ripped it's way from Becker's chest and he rested his forehead back against the cold glass.

"Ready to meet your daughter Daddy?" The nurses voice caught him off guard, making him jump.

"Really?" Becker said, actually looking around to see if she could be talking to anyone else.

"Yeah you," she said with a giggle, "there isn't anyone else who has those eyes." Becker smiled again and nodded, hurring forward to scrub in and get dressed up in that rediculous yellow gown.

"How is she," he asked the nurse as she led him through the proper steps to scrub in. It wasn't as easy as he thought it would be.

"She's stable so far, and she seems to love having her brother close," she told him with a small smile, "We're taking really good care of her." Becker nodded and focused on cleaning his skin as much as he could without removing a layer of skin.

Taking his first step into the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit was intimidating, and that was saying alot for a seasoned soldier. There were rows of incubators, each one filled with a tiny fragile infant. He had a hard time seeing the parents sitting by their baby's side, not all of them having the choice of ever taking their new son or daughter home. He'd seen one such couple break down roughly an hour earlier after being told their son wouldn't make it through the night, and a wave of guilt hit him as he prayed that his situation would turn out better. He pushed the feeling aside as the nurse led him though the maze of plastic cradles towards his baby girl. The second his eyes rested on the tiny girl he felt his heart soar and fall at the same time. He instantly loved her, there was no doubting that, but the sight of all the tubes and sensors attached to her scared the hell out of him.

"You can touch her," the nurse's voice knocked him from his stupor, making him jump a little, "just put your hand through the holes in the side." Becker moved forward until he was standing directly next to the clear box containing the tiny life he and Jess created. Gently he reached through the holes in the side to run a finger softly down her side. His knees nearly buckled at the first contact with her baby soft skin and he moved down to her miniscule hand. Much to his surprise, the second his finger touched her hand she grabbed it and held tight. Becker fought back tears at the sight of his daughter's hand wrapped tightly around his hand, depite the fact that her fingers couldn't fit all the way around. Feeling a bit braver, he stuck his other hand into the crib and brushed back the spider thread thin hair that covered her head. It was already showing signs of matching her mother's color. At the first touch of her father's hand on her head, the baby girl opened her eyes and looked up at him. Becker grinned at the bright eyes that were a perfect mirror of his.

"Hey Paige," he told her in a choked voice, "I'm your daddy."


	19. The Good and The Bad

**I'm so sorry it took so long! I've had massive writer's block, and I've started working 40+ hours a week. I'm going to do my best to get the next chapter out in a week at most. Thank you to everyone who has been encouraging me and waiting patiently. Enjoy! **

Becker found it impossible to tear his eyes away from the fragile infant that hadn't let go of his finger since she first grabbed a hold of it. The gigantic dopey grin that had been plastered to his face since he first looked into her eyes was still hanging in there.

"First baby?" Becker looked up to see the young nurse standing a little too close than she was used to, but he chocked it up to having to comfort terrified parents for her job. That would automatically breakdown normal boundaries regarding personal space.

"Yeah," he said, looking back to at his daughter, "her brother's about a minute and a half older."

"Which one's he?" The nurse asked, glancing around at the other plastic incubators.

"He's with his mother," Becker told her, returning his gaze to the tiny girl still resting under his palm. If he stretched out his hand, his fingertips just grazed the bottom of her chin and the heel of his palm rested at the top of her legs. He couldn't get over just how small she was, "The doctors say he's stable enough to visit outside the NICU, but she has to stay here."

"That must be him," the nurse said, causing Becker to snap his head around to look at the window he'd had his forhead pressed against less than ten minutes before. Sure enough, another nurse was walking through the door with his son cradled gently in her arms.

"You must be the daddy," she said when she got closer to the pair of cribs. In all honesty he hadn't noticed the empty crib next to his baby girl.

"Yeah," he said, not taking his eyes off the tiny blue bundle. He'd gotten a good look at the boy when he'd been brought to Jess, but he hadn't stayed long. Both he and Jess wanted someone with Paige as much as possible, and since Jess was confined to her bed until the doctor's told her otherwise it fell to him to be at her side.

"Did you want to hold him?" She asked, easily shifting the bundle towards him. He glanced between his son and his daughter, not sure what to do next. He wanted to hold his son as much as he wanted to draw his next breath, but he didn't want to let go of his little girl either.

"Lean back," the nurse told him, showing him how the recliner could lean back. Becker thanked whatever god was listening that they were in an NICU that had recliners rather than cramped plastic chairs and did as he was told. He was more than a little surprised when the young woman placed his son stomach first onto his chest. The infant squirmed for a moment, which made Becker freeze in fear of dislodging him, before he settled with his head facing his sister and his father's shirt gripped in his fist. Becker winced as the little man grabbed a few chest hairs along with the shirt, but she sharp stings disappeared quickly and he could focus on the newest addition to their little group.

"Welcome to the world Sam," Becker said rubbing his hand up and down the little boy's back. Happily it appeared that both kids took after Jess, but Sam's hair was two shades darker than Jess and still a bit lighter than Becker's. He couldn't tell what color his eyes were, he'd been sleeping since the nurse brought him in, but he suspected they'd be the same blue as his mother and sister. At least he hoped so.

"Why isn't he still with Jess?" He asked the nurse quietly. She smiled at his soft tone.

"She was exhausted," she told him, "so we brought him back here to let her get some sleep." Becker nodded and rested his head back against the soft padding of the chair as he yawned in time with his son. He chuckled at the sight of the tiny crinkled face resting against his chest. Within seconds Father, son, and daughter were fast asleep.

"Jess, wake up!" Jess was roughly jolted awake by a exstatic Connor. Only to have him start stumbling over himself to appolgise after she winced when her stiches pulled.

"It's alright Connor," she said as he helped her lift herself into a siting position, she eventually had to take away the bed remote as he was enjoying it way too much, "What's got you so excited?"

"Look," he said pulling his smart phone out of his pocket and holding it so close to her face that the screen went blurry. Laughing at his exuberance, Jess pushed the phone away until she could see the screen clearly. Try as she might she couldn't keep the tears from rolling down her face at the first picture of Becker protecting his kids. Becker was fast asleep with one large hand ancoring Sam to his chest, while the other rested over Paige like a warm security blanket.

"It's amazing Connor," she said slowly stroking the side of the phone as if she were touching one of the people in the photo, "Can you-,"

"Already sent it to your email, phone and set it at your wall paper. See," Connor told her as he pulled out her purple phone to flash the picture across her screen, "Cute little things aren't they. I wonder if they'll like Rex?"

"I think they're a while away from being Rex's playmates, but maybe someday." Jess laughed as she grabbed his had affectionately, "Thank you Connor," She said looking at the man who had quickly become like a big brother, though sometimes he seemed younger, to her.

"You're welcome?" he said with the look of confusion that was always on his face when someone caught him off guard. Jess smiled at the loveable genius.

"Thank you for being so surprisingly thoughtful," she told him.

"I have my moments," he said smugly, "Abby says she's gonna get them to call me Uncle Coni. We can avoid that yeah?," Jess giggled at the look of disgust on his face, which threw them both into rolling laughter. Something that wasn't too comfortable right after surgery, but she couldn't seem to stop. She was glad when Abby finally interrupted them with a knock on the door. The only problem was that it wasn't Abby like she thought it was. Jess felt the blood drain from her face as locked eyes with the person waiting in the doorway.


	20. Unexpected Company

**Sorry for the wait. I've gotten mildly obsessed with another show, and it's slowing my writing down. However we are coming up on the end, only a few more chapters to go. Enjoy!**

Jess just stared at the tall man who stood at her door holding two small teddy bears. For a man who looked so composed and in control in the media, Henry Rutledge certainly looked nervous now.

"Do you want me to grab security," Connor asked, "or Abby. She might actually be better."

"Abby would be great," she whispered back, not taking her eyes off the man married to the woman who made her life a living hell for over a month. Connor nodded and hoped off the bed, making sure to glare at the man on his way out the door.

"Can I help you?" She asked, trying to keep her voice calm. She wasn't sure if she was succeeding.

"I actually came to apologize," he said quietly, staying where he was at the door. His admission, and soft tone, caught Jess by surprise.

"You can come in," Jess said automatically when she saw him shift his weight once again. The minute she said it, she wanted to take it back again. As much as she wanted to be polite, and as much as it had been ingrained in her from birth, she didn't really want the man responsible for so much stress during her pregnancy anywhere near her.

"I didn't know what she was doing," he blurted out when he got close to the bed.

"Excuse me?" Jess asked, a little startled at the sudden outburst.

"I didn't Cecilia was bothering, well threatening, you," he said again.

"Oh," Jess said. Part of her really wanted to believe him, but another side was prudently being cautious.

"She told me the truth a few days ago," He told her, as if he could tell that she was hesitant to believe him, "Of course in her version you both are horrible people out to get her, and we'd be doing the baby a huge favor by taking him in." He paused for a second, as if a thought had literally hit him over the head, "Are they alright?"

"What?"

"Sam and Paige. Are they going to be alright?"

"How did-," Jess started.

"One of the nurses is an old family friend. She told me their names when I called to make sure Cecilia wasn't bothering you again."

"Oh," Jess said, not sure if she should be worried about the nurse or not, "the doctor's say they'll be fine, but they're a little concerned about Paige." Henry nodded, and the pair sat in silence for a few minutes. Jess nervously played with the threads of her woven blanket, and Henry shifting near the door.

"Turns out she's been lying to me since the day we met." He finally blurted out as he sagged into the chair closest to the door and stared at the bears in his hand. He looked so hurt and confused that Jess felt her heart cracking at the sight.

"Mr. Rutledge," Jess began.

"Henry, please," he told her, "we might as well be on first name terms if we both realize my wife is a lying, manipulative bitch." Jess was shocked at his sudden candor and wasn't sure what to say next. The choice was taken from her when he approached the bed.

"I know I don't have any right to ask," he said, "but I really would like to be their uncle." He set the bears on the tray attached to her bed, and placed a business card next to them.

"I'm expecting a no, but really hoping for a yes. Just please give me a call when you decide." Jess couldn't do anything other than gape as he walked out the door. Hesitantly, she reached out and placed the bears in her lap. Their soft fur tickled her palms and fingertips as she ran her fingers over the embroidered lettering on their bellies. Each of them had one of the baby's names embroidered under the traditional 'Get Well Soon', making them that more special. She momentarily wondered how he'd known their names, but guessed that he'd gotten a contact at the hospital.  
>Seconds after she'd picked up the bears, Abby and Connor came bursting in. They both looked more than a little confused.<p>

"Where'd he go?" Connor asked, still looking around the world as if he'd find Rutledge hiding behind the curtains. Jess couldn't tear her mind away from the bears in front of her, and the many different things they could mean, even when the mattress shifted next to her.

"You okay Jess?" Abby asked as she rubbed comforting circles on Jess shoulder.

"Yeah," she said snapping out of her fugue, "I just need to talk to Becker." Her eyes fell on her phone and the picture Connor took, "Once he wakes up."

"Becker?" Jess asked her silent husband after a few minutes. He seemed to be as shocked, and suspicious, as she was when she'd told him about his brother-in-law's visit.

"Do you think he was serious?" He finally looked back at her, eyes filled with confusion and fear.

"He seemed to be," she said cautiously, "After meeting your sister, I wouldn't be surprised if she played a part to get what she wanted." Becker nodded his agreement, though he didn't seem completely sure about it.

"Do we want to risk it?" He asked, "There's nothing he can do legally if we don't."

"I know," she told him, "but we don't have to decide right away. Let's focus on making sure our babies are okay, then we can decide if we want him in our lives." Becker nodded and lifted her hand to his lips for a kiss.


	21. AN

OMG! I'm sooooooo sorry to everyone who has been waiting for me to update this story! I recently decided to go back to school at a doctorate level, so I got three jobs to pay off all my debt before I take out the massive loan it will take to pay for school and I strated on a full length novel. So unfortunatly this fanfic has taken a backseat. Please bear with me, I'm not giving up, it'll just be a while longer. Again my apologies, and thank you for your patience.


	22. Hope on the Horizon

**I'm soooooo sorry it took so long for me to get another chapter up. My life has gone kind of crazy, and I've been focused on other projects. I plan on finishing this story before I return to my other projects, but there are only a few chapters and an epilogue left, so it shouldn't be too long. Thank you to everyone who has stayed with the story for so long, this chapter is mainly fluff, but it should get interesting again soon.**

"Jess," Becker called from the nursery, "I don't think I'm doing this right." Jess looked up from doing the dishes left over from dinner and smiled at the idea of her normally infallible husband sounding so unsure. Sam had been home for almost two weeks now, after a month long stay in the hospital, and Paige was due to come home in another week. Two weeks after the twins were born the doctors confirmed that the oxygen deprivation to Paige's brain had left her totally deaf. Becker had promptly left the hospital, gone into the nearest bookstore and bought every book on sign language he could find. He was already signing along with every word he said.

"Shit!" Becker's sudden shout had Jess running for the nursery at top speed, only to stop short when she saw a disgusted looking Becker.

"What...," Jess trailed off as she took in the naked baby boy on the changing table and the slowing spreading wet spot on her husband's blue shirt. Unable to stop herself, Jess quickly dissolved into giggles as she realized Sam had peed on his father.

"You have to use the clean diaper," she told him through her giggles, moving to drape the new diaper to block any possible streams that could be waiting. Becker scowled as he stripped off his shirt, distracting Jess for a few seconds as he walked into the en-suite bathroom to wipe his chest down with a wet rag. He grinned when he caught her staring and purposely flexed. Jess shook herself out of her stupor and glared half-heartedly.

"Put a shirt on," she grumped, "I miss Paige." Becker's grin faltered for a moment, before he brought it back. He walked over and pressed a kiss to her bare shoulder at the edge of her tank top.

"Only another week until she comes home," he told her, drawing a small grin from her.

"I know," she admitted, "I just want her now."

"Let's go see her," he said holding up the tiny black onesie that Connor had gotten Sam that had 'Daddy's little soldier' in bright blue across the front. Paige had a matching on with pink lettering. Jess rolled her eyes and grabbed the clothing to dress their son.

Thirty minutes later, after going through a checklist for the diaper bag, they were heading down to the car with Sam now fast asleep in his carrier. Becker carefully secured the car seat/carrier to the base, and Jess had to bite the inside of her cheek to stop from smiling when he checked every attachment for the third time. Moments like those that made her incredibly grateful that he had taken advantage of paternity leave. Connor had to have his mouth taped shut when it was announced to keep from getting hit with an EMD after Becker got tired of the Mr. Mom jokes. Jess had a nice picture of a dejected looking Connor covered in blue tape somewhere on her phone.

"Is Henry meeting us there?" Becker asked as he tightened the seat belt just a little more.

Cecilia hadn't been heard from after her husband had filed for divorce and while his ratings had taken a slight dip when it was announced, he was quickly regaining the country's sympathy when all of Cecila's antics had come to light. It turned out harassing Becker and Jess hadn't even been the worst of it. Henry had been devastated to discover that not only had she had a variety of other lovers, the two pregnancies Cecilia had told him miscarried had actually been aborted without his knowledge. Becker, Connor and Matt, who had surprisingly become good friends with Henry, took the man out to get utterly drunk when that bit of scandal had hit the news and come back to the flat at two in the morning singing some rather dirty drinking songs. On the other hand, Henry was turning out to be a wonderful uncle and a better brother to Becker than Cecilia had ever been as a sister. Jess actually had to put her foot down when Henry offered to find a way to get the A.R.C. not one, but two tanks. Both men had pouted for a few hours after that, but softened when they went to visit the babies.

"He's got a meeting," Jess told him, "but he wants to visit with her a little before he comes to dinner, so it'll be a bit later than usual." Henry was one of the few people who could visit the NICU without either Becker or Jess present. They'd been hesitant at first, but after he had Cecilia dragged out by security the day before he filed for divorce when she tried to get into see the twins, they decided to risk it. So far they weren't regretting it.

The NICU nurses greeted the couple warmly, and cooed over Sam as he wriggled in his carrier. The parents split their time between the twins, switching who was caring for Sam and Paige periodically. It was pretty obvious that Paige already had her bad ass daddy completely wrapped up in her tiny grasp and Jess never got tired of watching Becker with his kids.

"I've got good news," the head nurse told Jess quietly, grabbing her attention away from the image of her children sleeping peacefully on their exhausted father's chest. Sam had one arms wrapped protectively around his much smaller sister, and Jess had a feeling that he was going to take after his father in protective instincts, "she's doing better than expected. The doctor may let her go home a couple days early."

"Thank goodness," Jess breathed. Despite being repeatedly assured by the Neonatologists that Paige was out of danger, the young couple had constantly been waiting for a sudden turn since, in their experience, nothing went smoothly.

Before too long it was time for them to leave the hospital and Jess, like always, found herself tearing up as they walked out the door without their baby girl.

"She'll be home soon," Becker whispered as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pressed a firm kiss to the top of her head. He was surprised when Jess let out a soft giggle, and pulled back to look at her.

"We'll have to tell Lester first," Jess told him between bursts of quiet laughter, making Becker smirk in amusement. Lester had practically preened when the new parents had asked him to be their children's honorary uncle, and informed him that they had made Paige's middle name Lestlie. Jess had convinced Becker to not call Lester Paige and Sam's honorary grandfather to avoid bloodshed. The first time Lester had come to visit the NICU happened to be at the same time as one of Cecilia's pushy arrivals, demanding to see the newest worthwhile member of her family. Lester happened to be standing nearby while Cecilia was arguing with the nurse and heard the ghastly woman refer to his new niece as a worthless, broken thing. Jess wasn't sure if she'd ever seen Lester turn quite that shade of red before, but the dry threatening tone he'd used on her was familiar. They didn't know what he'd said to her, but she had apparently flounced off in a huff and they hadn't heard from her since. Becker grinned at the memory of nearly being run over by his flustered sister as he entered the hospital.

"He'll definitely be the first to know."

**A/N: I** **want to put this out there in case someone has an issue. I do believe in a woman's right to choose, but I don't think it is a decision that should be taken lightly and that there should be a very damn good reason for it. I also believe that there should be a way for the father to fight for the baby if he wants to (baring medical necessity) and that it should never be done without his knowledge. That, and the fact that she then lied to him about it, is what makes Cecilia doing what she did so bad in my book.**


	23. Not the Best Day Ever

**Thank you for everyone who's been patiently waiting for another update. I'm hoping to finish the last couple of chapters this month. My life has taken a few turns, all good, so it's gone a little crazy. I start my Doctor of Chiropractic in less than a month and it'll last three years so this may very well be my final story for a while. Thanks again for everyone who's been following me and I'll keep anyone who's interested updated if I write anything else.**

Paige went home less than a week after her parents had received the good news, and though Paige was still much smaller than her brother she was officially out of the danger zone. Becker had been a rock for Jess throughout the entire ordeal of Paige being in the NICU, but the second they walked through the door to their flat Becker lost it. It had actually taken a few hours before Becker would even let go of her, days before he would let her be out of reach and a few weeks before he would let her out of his sight.

"She'll be fine Becker," Jess assured her husband as she ushered him to the door with a sleeping Paige draped over her shoulder, "we all will." Becker stopped at the door to give his wife a kiss goodbye, which she happily accepted, but didn't leave immediately after. Instead he kept staring at his girls, periodically peaking behind them to the living room where Sam was sleeping in the playpen.

"Go to work Becker," Jess sighed, finally pushing him out the door. Becker relented and finally walked out the door.

"Call me if you need anything," he called as he walked backwards down the hall.

"I will," Jess told him as she closed the door and directed her attention to the baby curled up against her chest, "Your daddy is a worrywart." Paige's smile like expression was most likely cause by gas, but she like to think that she found the idea of her mommy's teasing funny.

Becker hesitated with his thumb hovering over the call button of his smart phone as he climbed out of his truck. The second he'd pulled into his designated parking spot in the ARC parking structure and turned off the vehicle, he'd pulled out his phone to call Jess. Before he could make up his mind to call or not, the phone was plucked from his hand by an irritating blond.

"They'll be fine," Howell told him as he walked backwards into the lift.

"Bastard," Becker muttered under his breath as he jogged to catch up to his second in command and snatched the phone from the man's hand. He did, however, allow Howell's words to convince him that his family would be fine and he put his phone away.

"First day back must be tough," Howell acknowledged carefully. Becker nodded without thinking, but it was quickly becoming apparent that when it came to his wife and kids he wasn't afraid to show his emotions.

"Paige has only been home for a week," Becker told him without looking away from the lift doors, "and the doctors still have concerns." Howell nodded in sympathy and the pair stayed quiet for the rest of the ride, until the ADD sirens went off. With a sigh, the two men take off for the multi-screened computer.

Four hours after the initial alert, Becker and Howell plodded back into the ARC covered in things they didn't even want to think about. The tech that had taken over during Jess' maternity leave nearly jogged over to him, and Becker knew there was something she needed him to do. So he decided to preempt any request she had.

"Shower," Becker told her, "now." The young woman did her best to fight back the grin that desperately wanted to spread across her face and nodded.

"Your wife called to ask you to pick up diapers on your way home," she told him before she turned away. Becker nodded and started to pull his phone out of the waterproof pocket on the side when Howell stopped him.

"You might want to wait until after the shower sir," Howell told him when Becker looked at the other man with a raised eyebrow. Howell glanced at the multicolored, and unidentifiable, goo that covered both men.

"Right," Becker said when he caught sight of what Howell was referring to. He tried to pull the fabric of his shirt away from his abs, only to grimace at the utterly unpleasant feeling of the wet fabric sucking at his skin, "That's disgusting." Howell roared with laughter, and only laughed harder when a large glob of whatever they were covered in dropped directly from his nose into one of the test tubes they were supposed to fill for the lab. Becker had to smile at that perfectly, coincidentally, aimed drip and his second in command looking very close to wetting his pants from laughing so hard. Becker slapped a hand on Howell's back and grimaced again when the man's drenched jacket squelched under his hand, prompting another burst of laughter from the other man.

"Let's hit the showers so I can get home to my girls and my boy," Becker told Howell, who could only nod because his laughter. The two men showered in the men's biohazard showers off the medical bay, including a through scrubbing with a disinfecting soap that Becker absolutely hated, and dressed. Just when Becker was about to grab his stuff to head home, Howell stopped him with a hand on his arm and an apologetic look on his face.

"Lab work," He told Becker, who groaned again and dropped his head to his chest.

"Let's go," Becker said with a weak point in the general direction of the labs. The pair made their way through the winding halls and if Becker wasn't their commanding officer, the ARC soldiers might have said he stomped through the halls like a child who'd been denied a new toy. Becker was so distracted by the need to get his blood drawn so he could finally go home that he very nearly jumped out of his skin when the phone in his pocket started ringing.

"Jesus Christ," he muttered as he pulled out the phone, surrounded by Howell's muffled laughter, "Hello?" He was met with newborn babble and he couldn't help but grin at the voices of both his babies. Seconds later the laughing voice of his wife over the line, making his smile even wider.

"Coming home soon?" Jess asked him, "I was going to order Italian from that place down the street." Becker smiled at the shear domesticity of the moment and swiped absently at Howell when the man snorted at his dopey grin.

"I got hit with something," Becker told her with a grimace, "I honestly don't want to know what it is, but I have to get the usual tests done."

"Sorry darling," Jess told him, knowing jut how much he hated anything having to do with the medical wing, "So about an hour and a half to get samples taken and getting home?"

"Sounds about right," Becker told her, "What are you getting?"

"You'll find out when you get home," Jess teased and before Becker could come up with a comeback Paige started crying in the background, quickly followed by Sam. Jess groaned quietly, "I've got to go. I'll see you when you get home. I love you."

"Love you," Becker told her before he hung up the phone and turned to a smirking Howell, "Don't forget who controls your conditioning." Howell ignored the threat to his muscles and slapped his friend on the back.

"Let's get to medical," Howell suggested cheerily as he swung an arm around the other man, "You're not the only one who wants to go home." Becker rolled his eyes, but let his friend steer him down the hall.

Nearly two hours after talking to Jess, Becker trudged up the stairs to his flat after being poked and prodded until the lab techs were satisfied. He could practically hear the Italian food inside calling his name, and his mouth started watering at all the possibilities he knew the restaurant served. Just after he'd unlocked the door and started pushing it open he was shoved through hard enough to crack his head on the door when it didn't open fast enough.

"Stay quiet," a familiar male voice growled, followed by the sound of a firearm being cocked. Becker's mind instantly went to Jess and his two precious babies who were somewhere in the large flat and he turned to attack.


	24. Playing For Time

Jenkins shouted in shock when his former C.O. lunged at him despite the threat of a gun. Becker dodged the first shot and the bullet embedded in the wall behind him. There was a moment where Becker wondered how upset Jess was going to be at the bullet hole in the drywall, before his mind refocused of the fight at hand. Becker wrapped his arm around the one holding the gun so that his forearm pressed Jenkins' elbow flat and beyond until Becker could hear the tendons and ligaments stretching beyond their capacity. Jenkins screamed in pain and dropped the gun to try and wrench his arm out of the hold, while throwing his head forward in a Glasgow kiss. Becker swore and stumbled back as the hard bone of the disgraced soldier's forehead connected to his cheekbone.

"Son of a bitch!" Jenkins cried, dropping back to shake out the injured arm and pulled a knife from a scabbard attached to his belt. Becker groaned internally at the sight, remembering that Jenkins was one of the best knife fighters he'd ever seen. He was unarmed, something that was very rare in Becker's life, so he held his arms up in front of him in a position that could be considered capitulation. Jenkins didn't even consider that Becker could be surrendering, and lunged forward to attempt to slash across the older man's chest. Becker managed to jump back fast enough to avoid the blow, but couldn't completely dodge the second one. He hissed in pain as the fine edge of the blade dragged across his abdomen and left arm before he threw a kick at Jenkins' chest, which had been left vulnerable after the second strike. The air huffed out of Jenkins in a rush and Becker took advantage of the distraction to attempt a rugby style tackle.

He caught Jenkins in the gut with his shoulder, knocking the wind from the man and dragging him to the floor. Jenkin cried out as he hit the floor hard, but recovered quickly enough to bring his elbow down directly onto Becker's spine. Becker winced as he felt the air escaping from the spaces between the moving vertebras with a loud pop and hurried to get to his feet when Jenkins threw him off. Jenkins was faster, however, and picked up the gun that Becker hadn't seen under one of the armchairs.

"On your knees," Jenkins told him with a maniacally satisfied gleam in his eye. Becker swore vehemently and held up his hands as he dropped to his knees, "Clear." Becker was confused at the second shout from Jenkins, until he realized that the man wasn't alone.

"Do be quiet little brother," Cecilia told him as she made her way into the flat, closing the door quietly behind her and Becker stared at her in shock, "We wouldn't want to disturb the neighbors with a family matter."

"You're insane," Becker snarled at her, mentally picturing pushing her and Jenkins through the next anomaly he was called to. Jenkins gave a firm kick to Becker's back as a warning to hold his tongue and pressed the barrel of the gun to the back of his neck for less than a second. Becker fleetingly wished he hadn't trained the man so well and he would forget to keep his distance with the gun, making it impossible for Becker to disarm the other man.

"Tie him up," Jenkins told her and tossed a few zip ties to her. There was no doubt in Becker's mind that if he fought against his sister Jenkins would shoot him.

"So rude," Cecilia told Becker with a frown as she strapped his wrists tightly together, "Our parents would be disappointed." Becker blinked at her in disbelief.

"I'm the one disappointing our parents?" Becker allowed all of his contempt to show in his voice. Cecilia looked at him with a raised eyebrow as if to say 'of course', and pulled over one of the dining chairs so she could sit facing her younger brother.

"You're keeping a child of our family away from the people who can best care for him," she told him, and Becker felt his blood go cold as he realized she was after his son.

"You're not getting anywhere near Sam," Becker snarled at her. Cecilia huffed and rolled her eyes.

"My son's name is Samuel, Hilary," she told him, making Becker's eyes go wide, "Really. I don't understand why you insist on communizing his name."

"He's not your son!" Becker shouted at her, starting to get to his to his feet. He was stopped by Jenkins digging the heel of his boot painfully into his calf.

"Stay down," Jenkins growled, "or I'll shoot you early." Another chill ran through Becker as he realized that the pair didn't plan on letting him out alive, and his mind instantly shifted to fear for his family. It was obvious that Cecilia didn't plan on hurting Sam, but lack on any mention of Jess and Paige sent near panic shooting through him.

"So that's the plan?" Becker asked her, hoping Jess was using the time to implement one of the escape plans Becker had planned out and drilled when they moved into the townhouse style flat, "Kill me and kidnap my son?"

"You stole my life," Cecilia hissed, "and I'm going to get it back. The story will read that you killed that little whore of yours in a PTSD induced break, so sad that she was holding that rubbish little girl when you did, and then yourself. As a loving and bereaved sister, the only logical choice will be for me to take in the only survivor of his father's rage. Henry of course will see the family he's wanted and come to his senses about that ridiculous notion of divorce." Becker started shaking in fear and rage as he listened to his sister calmly describe the massacre of his family and silently prayed that Jess had gotten the kids out.

"It won't work you psychotic bitch!" Becker screamed at her and was rewarded with a kick to the back of his ribs that sent him crashing to the floor." Becker was unable to hold back a groan of pain as he felt a few of his ribs give under the pressure. The adrenaline was quickly draining out of his body, leaving him with too little energy to do anything other than play for time.

"Not so tough now are you?" Jenkins asked, giving Becker a rough nudge with the toe of his boot, "I'm going to enjoy redecorating your bedroom with your wife's brains."

"You're pathetic," Becker snarled earning a snarl from Jenkins and another harsh kick to the ribs and groaned as he heard something snap again. Becker absently wondered if there was even going to be an altercation in which he wouldn't get his ribs broken, but he doubted it.

"Can I kill him yet?" Jenkins growled, cruelly nudging Becker's collapsed form, directly over the possibly broken ribs.

"You have to kill that little tart and her rubbish brat first," Cecilia told him.

"Fine," Jenkins said before kneeling down next to Becker and spoke softly into his ear, "I'll go kill them now."

"No!" Becker screamed, only to be drowned out by the loud crack of double tap.


	25. Unexpected

_**Because **__**Prawn Crackers**__** asked so nicely, with puppy eyes, here's the next chapter. Only one more chapter and an epilogue left. I promise to finish it before 2014.**_

Becker stared in awe at his wife who was standing at the top of the stairs, calmly holding her tiny black and pink PPK. Jenkins was lying in a crumpled heap on the floor with a large pool of blood spreading out around him from the large cavity in his chest. He startled back to reality when he heard Sam screaming in his room upstairs and scrambled to his feet so he could get to his kids. He stopped to pick up Jenkins' knife so Jess could cut him free when he got close enough to her. The zip ties had cut into his skin enough to leave blood dripping down his hands and he had to stop so Jess could get the knife to cut him loose. When he was free, he moved to take the gun from his wife, but she shook her head minutely.

"Becker darling," Jess said sweetly, "Can you take care of the babies while I have a little chat with your sister?" Becker nodded dumbly and thumbed the number for the police as he walked into the nursery.

"I need police at my flat for armed intruders," Becker told the operator when she asked for the nature of the emergency, before looking down at the sluggishly bleeding gashes that ran across his abdomen and arm, "and an ambulance." He wasn't really looking forward to being fussed over by the medic, but he ran the risk of Jess getting a little frantic if he didn't. He gave the dispatcher the address and hung up before they could ask him anymore questions so he could turn his attention to his children. Sam's cries had quieted to whimpers by the time Becker picked him up, and the little boy immediately laced his fingers into Becker's shirt for comfort. Becker shifted Sam so that he could hold the infant with one hand and moved to scoop up a confused Paige. The doctors had warned Becker and Jess that, while Paige would never hear without a cochlear implant, their baby girl would be more sensitive to the vibrations from sound then the average person. Sam might have been startled by the loud snap of the gunshots, but Paige had only felt the vibrations that hadn't been familiar.

Headless of the blood that was soaking through the matching shirts the twins were wearing and walked over to the long, squashy couch Becker had gotten in place of the rocking chair when they realized they had twins.

When Jess found him nearly thirty minutes later, after letting the police in and explaining what happened, he was stretched out of the couch with both babies asleep on his chest, acting as unintentional compression for the slashed across his abs.

A knock at the door made Becker tense up, and the babies squirm, until he realized it was just the police and medics. With a put upon sigh, Becker handed the twins to Jess one by one so she could change them into non-bloody clothes and let the medics treat his cuts. He refused to go to the hospital, but the medic didn't fight him on it much as the gashes were all relatively superficial, and made his way over to where a bobby was talking to his wife. The man looked up when Becker walked over to the pair.

"Captain Becker," The officer held out his hand for Becker to shake which he did, "I was just informing your wife that most likely there won't be any charges pressed. Mrs. Rutledge has corroborated your wife's story, though she seems to think she hasn't done anything wrong, and we have the video footage your wife gave us."

"What footage?" Becker asked with a small frown, glancing at his wife for clarification.

"The nanny cams," Jess told him, making eyes go wide in surprise, "I put them in a few weeks ago. I told you I was putting them up." Becker shook his head and Jess frowned.

"How long do they keep the recordings?" Becker asked her, remembering the things they'd done in full view of the camera that he really didn't want anyone to see.

"Right now I have them set to erase after forty-eight hours," Jess informed him, much to his relief, "But the exterior cameras save recordings for a week." That got the officer's attention and he grunted in interest.

"Any way we could get a copy of those as well?" He asked, "It could help the case if we can get them casing your home on video."

"Of course," Jess said as she scurried off to make a copy. Becker watched her go until the officer got his attention again.

"Do you have anywhere you can go while we finish our investigation?" he asked.

"Hotel," Becker told him, though Becker made a mental note to ask Lester to use the company flat. Anything else either man was planning to say was halted when Jess reentered the room with a small hot pink jump drive in her hand.

"Here you are," she said cheerily, handing the small piece of electronics and plastic over to the rather tall and burly officer. Becker very nearly snickered as the man slid the little thing into an evidence bag and his pocket as fast as he could to avoid being seen with something so pink.

"That should be all for now," he told the couple, "You're clear to take thing from the master bedroom and nursery, but we can't allow you to touch anything downstairs."

"We understand," Becker assured him and moved to start packing a bag for himself and Jess, while she made up one for the twins. It took less than ten minutes for them to stuff as much clothing as they could fit into rather small bags, luckily Becker still had his large duffle out so they wouldn't be short on clothes, and begin heading downstairs. The same officer met them at the foot of the stairs to walk them out, and Becker made sure to stand between Jess and the bloody body lying on their dark hardwood floor.

"We do ask that the pair of you not leave London until the investigation is complete," the officer told them when they'd finally made it out the door, "and that you update your contact information with us when you've found place to stay."

"Of course," Jess told him, and led her family the few feet to where Becker's large SUV was parked in the driveway.

At the first decent hotel they came across, Becker checked them into a decent sized suite in case they'd have to stay there for a while. Once in the room Becker settled the twins into the playpen they'd brought to serve as their crib until they could get back to their home, and watched them sleep peacefully for a few minutes while Jess showered away the events of the day. Hell, the year. Making a snap decision, Becker pulled out his phone and called Lester again.

"Yes, what is it Becker?" His boss sighed in his all too familiar tone.

"I'm taking a month off," Becker told him flatly, "I'll be back at the same time Jess is done with her maternity leave." Lester snorted in disbelief.

"And what prompted this decision may I ask?"

"Jenkins and my sister broke into our flat, armed," Becker told him, "They planned on kidnapping Sam and killing the rest of us." There was a long stretch of silence as Lester absorbed the shocking information.

"I knew we should have thrown those two through and anomaly," Lester said finally, "Ah well. I assume things went well and those cretins have been dealt with?"

"Jess shot Jenkins twice," Becker told him, "and my sister is in police custody." That little nugget of information seemed to give Lester a bit of a pause, which might have made Becker smirk in any other instance.

"Yes, well," Lester stammered, "If you must, I suppose I can find someone to cover your duties until you return." As strange as it sounded, Becker actually found Lester's adherence to his normal personality comforting.

"Of course sir," Becker replied and waited for Lester to hang up, but he was surprised when Lester continued.

"Everyone is alright I take it?" Lester's voice only betrayed a hint of the concern he felt, and Becker was once again grateful to have such a man as his boss.

"I was the only one injured Sir," Becker told him, "Just some lacerations and possibly broken ribs."

"Can't you have one fight where you don't manage to break those?" Lester said with a small huff, "Well, as long as everyone important is unharmed, I'll have my P.A. send you the paperwork regarding your enforced holiday." Lester hung up before Becker could gather his senses again after realizing just what Lester was going to arrange for them. After tossing his phone onto his bag and checking on the twins once more, Becker painfully crawled into the sinfully soft bed to wait for Jess to get out of the shower.

"Becker," Jess' soft voice woke him and he popped up from the violent dream he'd been having, only to wince when the movement jarred his ribs.

"Are you alright?" Jess asked, wiping her thumbs across his cheek and Becker was shocked to realize that he'd been crying in his sleep.

"No," Becker confessed and seemed to shrink into himself in a way he hadn't since the first time he'd had to kill a man in combat when he was barely nineteen. Jess crawled into bed beside him so that he could wrap her in his arms as best he could without causing himself pain.

"It's okay," she told him softly, "We're okay."

"I'm so tired," he admitted softly, and the statement itself was proof of just how tired he was, "First King, then my sister and now this. We need a fucking break."

"Then we'll take one," Jess told him leaning up to kiss him slowly, "but you're going to hospital in the morning for those ribs."

"Yes dear," Becker couldn't help but tease, and was rewarded with another kiss from his perfect wife.


	26. At Last

**Short chapter, but there will be an epilogue to show the Beckers when the kids are a little older. Enjoy!**

Becker was settled comfortably in a hammock in the garden of Jess' family cottage, just outside of Brighton, with Jess' head resting in the middle of his chest and her hips settled comfortably between his legs. The baby monitor at their side gave them the peace of mind to leave the babies sleeping in their playpen just inside the garden door.

"All quiet," Jess asked sleepily, not bothering to lift her head from the comfortable pillow of her husband's pecs. Becker shook his head before realizing she couldn't see him.

"They're both sleeping still I guess," he murmured, for once unwilling to interrupt the stillness of the moment.

"I concede," Jess mumbled as she rubbed her face into the oft cotton of Becker's t-shirt, "the hammock was a good idea." Becker felt more than a little smug at her words, but wisely didn't say anything when he remembered Jess was within pinching distance. He had come across the hammock at a camping supply store and purchased it on a whim, and with his beautiful wife lying on top of him he wasn't complaining. Before he could come up with a clever comeback, quiet whimpers could be heard over the baby monitor lying on the grass.

"Shall I get them?" Becker asked as the soft dries grew more insistent, "You'll have to move either way, but I can take care of them if you want to rest." Jess shook her head and carefully extracted herself from the swinging bolt of fabric.

"I've got it," she told her husband, "Just stay right there." Becker watched as she disappeared inside the French doors and reflected on the events of the last ten days.

Cecilia had been taken straight to jail, and since she was still technically still married to Henry the police informed him as to what had happened. He had immediately left the meeting he was in, which had actually helped his rating in the polls surprisingly, to help them in any way he could while denouncing Cecilia the entire time. Cecilia was insistent that she'd done nothing wrong and had simply done what she'd deemed necessary for the protection of the infant she loved like her own. No one believed her, especially after she'd blatantly told a reporter that it would be more humane to simply put Paige down to spare her the suffering her disability would cause and free up government taxes to provide for someone who could contribute something to society. In the court of public opinion that comment had pretty much earned her the equivalent of a social firing squad. Jess was never charged with any crime, for obvious reasons, though it wasn't for lack of trying when one of Cecilia's old friend happened to work in the prosecutor's office and he decided to try to help his friend. That plan was quickly dropped when he was met with the combined forces of Lester, Henry and April Parker. Becker was nearly positive that those three could break even the best intelligence agent in the world if they truly put their minds to it. Even more frightening was the fact that Henry and April seem to be getting along better than Becker was entirely comfortable with, though Jess was ecstatic with the matchmaking prospects it presented and was constantly hiding in corners with Emily to come up with plans to push the pair together.

"I think they just want to spend time with us," Jess told him as she approached the swing with a baby cradled in each arm. Becker smiled as he held out his arms for his children so Jess could have her hands free as she joined the rest of her family in the hammock. It took a little maneuvering, but eventually Becker had his wife curled into his side and two drowsy infants sprawled across his chest. There was peace and quiet, and Becker wouldn't have it any other way.


	27. A Lovely Life

**Last chapter of the story. Finally! Thank you to everyone who's read and supported this story along the way. It means so much to me. Enjoy!**

Becker pulled up outside the secondary school where his children and god children were waiting for him in the office. Once Abby and Conner had their first son six months after the twins were born, both couples made sure to allow the others on the team to handle school and legal matters for all of the children, just in case. When their second son was born Becker and Jess had been named as the boys', dubbed the Temple Twins despite their actual age difference, legal guardians in case something happened to Abby and Connor. Which was why Becker was at the school for all four of the children, since he was the closest when he got the call. He wasn't sure if showing up in full tach gear would make the best impression, but that's what they were going get if they called in the middle of the day. He left all the guns but his sidearm in the car, he never took it off while on duty now.

Walking into the office, the first thing he saw was his seventeen year old daughter wrapped tightly in the arms of her boyfriend. A boyfriend who had a growing bruise on his jaw and fight bite on his knuckles. When his daughter had first told him that she was dating Nick Temple he had the normal fatherly reaction, he went to the firing range with two assault rifles. Once he could form rational thoughts again, he acknowledged that Nick was probably the best guy she was ever going to date. His brother Steven was nearly a carbon copy of Connor, still in the awkward gangly faze at fourteen and holding to a fervent love of vintage military jackets. Nick however was as far physically from his parents as possible. He towered over his parent at six foot two and looked more like an American football player than the seventeen year old he was. Everyone had been shocked when they teen had hit his growth spurt until Connor had admitted that Nick looked just like Connor's father.

Steven and Sam were standing protectively in front of the couple supporting some impressive bruises of their own. Steven was always ready to jump into a fray to help out anyone he cared about, and after years of self defense from his uncle Becker he could hold his own. However their injuries were nothing compared to the five boys sitting across from them. Judging by the glares his three boys were throwing them, they did something incredibly repugnant. The headmaster was standing off to the side, looking mildly intimidated under Nicks glare. Something that made Becker chuckle since he had taught the glare to all of his boys, and yes, he considered them all his boys to some degree.

"Captain Becker," the headmaster said rushing forward, "thank you for coming."

"Why am I here?" Becker asked ignoring the hand the smaller man held out to him in order to sign for his daughter's benefit, despite the fact that it was entirely possible she didn't even know he was there, "And why are my children so upset?"

"Uh, well," the headmaster stammered taking his hand back and wiped his sweaty palm on his vest, "it seems your children started a rather large fight, and-"

"That's a lie you fucking ass!" Sam snarled at the man.

"Language!" Becker bellowed in tone that was so familiar to the three boys that they snapped to attention and the five boys sitting against the wall cower a bit, especially when they realized that Becker was armed.

"We'll get to you in a moment," the headmaster snapped, though he quickly quieted when Becker leveled his best glare at him. He turned to his son and god-sons.

"What happened?" He asked, signing automatically from years of habit. The three boys threw an evil glare at the five cowering against the wall, which Becker matched. Nick loosened his grip on Paige when she wiggled a bit, and she bolted to Becker when she saw her father for the first time. Becker wrapped his arms around his baby girl and tapped out the rhythm of her favorite lullaby against her back. Humming the same tune deep in his chest so she could feel the vibrations against her cheek, he waited for the boys to start talking. It was Steven who started talking first in his nervous lightning speed speech.

"They've been hassling Paige for the last few months, and it was little things at first, stuff to annoy her cause she's deaf. Asking her to listen to music, trying to make her talk, mocking her signing, just irritating and rude things really, and she wouldn't tell us what was going on. Then Nick caught them talking about her in the locker room, let's just say it was something that shouldn't be said about ladies ever and mum would thrash me if I ever said anything like that ever, and Nick," Steven trailed off with a quick glance at the head master and straightened up, "well Nick, politely told them it was inappropriate." Becker seriously doubted that. He knew that when it came down to being protective towards Paige, Becker was the only person who out did Nick. Becker tapped his seventeen year old daughter twice on the top of the head, their way of letting her know they needed her attention. She peaked up through her lashes, which just made Becker think of her mother.

"Why didn't you tell us?" He asked, trusting her to read lips. Paige sighed and moved back far enough that she could sign.

_"I thought I could handle it,"_ she told him, _"I told the boys when it got bad."_ Paige looked ashamed, which did not bode well for the boys sitting against the wall, because his daughter should never be ashamed of herself for someone else's actions.

"How did it get bad?" Becker asked the boys when she buried her face back into his chest to hide. The growl that came from Nick at his question was new and incredibly intimidating if the fearful squeak from one of the boys against the wall was any indication. His large fists clenched and relaxed as he stared down the cowering mass of boys that were doing their best to be assimilated into the wall behind them. Becker couldn't have been more proud of the boy, not that he would tell Jess that since she would just lecture him about encouraging aggression. Never mind the fact that Nick had him mother beat when it came to caring for animals. Becker had been amazed when he saw the beefy boy feeding an orphaned baby squirrel with the utmost tenderness. Though Becker had to admit the now almost grown squirrel was beginning to drive him nuts whenever Nick brought it to visit Paige.

Knowing he wasn't going to get a coherent answer from his daughter's boyfriend anytime soon, Becker turned his attention to his son.

"Sam?"

"They touched her," Sam bit out angrily, "She wouldn't tell us until they ripped her shirt. Nick had to drag it out of her." For the first time Becker realized that Nick was wearing nothing but a white vest, while Paige saw being swallowed by a far too large button down, and snapped his gaze to the offending boys with a glare that had terrified hardened members of the SAS.

"I thought I told you boys to only go below the belt when you had to," Becker told his three when he realized that one of the five boys against the wall had a bag of ice strategically placed on his lap.

"Wasn't us," Nick grunted, and Becker reminded himself to work with Nick on clearing his speech when he's angry. For the moment, Becker looked at Sam for clarification.

"She kicked him," Sam chortled, momentarily letting go of his anger at the memory, "He was on the ground when we got there, crying for him mom." Becker nodded and tilted his daughter's chin up so she could read his lips again.

"Good girl," Becker told her and smiled at the small twist of her lips it drew out. He turned his attention to the slightly cowering headmaster, "What are you going to do about these boys assaulting my daughter?"

"Now we don't know that for sure," the headmaster hedged softly, obviously thinking he could gloss the event over without losing face, "She could be making up the story to keep from getting in trouble with her boyfriend." It was the wrong thing to say, but before Becker could snap and quite possibly kill the man, Steven stepped forward.

"We got it on video," he told everyone smugly, and the four of the five boys looked sick, while the one sitting slightly separate from the others looked surprisingly relieved. Noticing the boy looked younger than his friend, and significantly less bruised, Becker signed something to his daughter and wasn't all too shocked when she revealed that he had tried to stop the other boys every time they picked on her, but had been obviously scared of them. After handing his daughter back to her boyfriend, who was still intimidating the boys to the best of his ability, he took the phone from Steven and pushed play on the video. The headmaster paled visibly as the video revealed the truth of the boy's actions against the girl, and showed that the younger boy in the end received all of his bruises from his supposed friends when he tried to defend Paige. Becker made a quick mental note to tell his kids to do what they could to befriend the boy and get him away from the bad influences.

"I…, I…," he stuttered, to which Becker simply rolled his eyes.

"You boys take Paige outside," He told Nick, Sam and Steven, who promptly left the office in an orderly fashion. Becker turned back to mildly trembling man in front of him.

"Are you going to planning to arrange some type of discipline for those boys or shall I get the police involved?" Becker asked with a raise eyebrow, "and let's not forget that the PM will be less than pleased that his niece was attacked."

All five of the boys and the headmaster went even more ashen then they'd been before as it sunk in just what that little tidbit of information meant. The headmaster actually looked like he might faint, and Becker just rolled his eyes with a sigh.

"Are their parents on their way?" Becker asked, relieved when the smaller man found enough strength inside himself to at least nod, "Perfect. I'll speak to them when they arrive and you can just stand there as useless as you are now." Becker knew the other man was intimidated when he just nodded along with the insult and Becker wondered if he could convince Jess that it would be a good idea to switch schools even if the twins were in their final year.

When the parents finally arrived, Becker had to deal with the standard arrogant denials that their precious offspring could possibly do anything so heinous. They quickly changed their tunes when Becker simply played the tape for them. After getting the four sets of parents who had arrived that a good punishment would be tri-weekly workouts with a few of him men, which he was putting Howell in charge of, would put them on a batter track. Though Becker made mental note to leave out any type of defense training in case the boys didn't quite get the point he was trying to make. Becker made sure to establish that the youngest member of the group, Dylan Thomas, had worked to protect Paige and watched as the boy's older brother puff up with pride. Becker had been momentarily caught off guard when a solder in an ARC uniform had walked into the room, wondering if her was needed back at the ARC, and had been even more shocked when the young man had marched directly over to Dylan. It turned out that the pair had lost their parents a few years before and the young lance corporal had taken over the care of his younger brother. As far as Becker could tell, he was doing a good job of it and promised to find the man the least dangerous job at the ARC he could find to keep what was left of their family together.

Once he'd shaken the hands of all the guardians and followed them out, Becker relaxed at the sight of all his children gathered around their mother. Jess was comforting a still mildly upset Paige while the rest of the boys kept a close eye on the five year old that was literally running circles around the small group. Becker and Jess hadn't planned on having anymore children, they certainly hadn't been trying, but Danny had been determined and had unexpectedly made himself known with a rather violent bought of morning sickness.

Paige and Sam, at twelve years old, had been ecstatic at the arrival of their younger brother and hadn't stopped watching over him since. The second the small boy saw Becker, he let out an excited squeal and bolted for him, ignoring his brother's shouts for him to come back.

"Daddydaddydaddydaddy!" Danny shrieked as he raced across the large gap between the rest of his family and his father. Becker laughed aloud and snatched the boy up when he was close enough, tossing him high in the air before bringing him close to his chest. Danny happily snuggled under his father's chin as his mother scolded him for running off. Becker chuckled and distracted his wife with a kiss, which she happily returned. After Jess fake pouted for a few seconds she started to herd the rest of her children towards the cars. A small commotion caused Becker, Sam and Nick to glance up to the four boys jeering at Dylan like the younger boy had been the one to tattle on them as opposed to the video. The parents and Dylan's brother were talking far enough away that they were unaware of what was going on. Becker cursed to himself while Jess frowned, unaware of what had happened earlier but she was not a fan was bullying of any kind. Becker was about to call out to the boy's brother, but Nick and Sam glanced at each other for less than a second before they started making their way to the group of teenagers. Steven scrambled after them to stand in silent support behind the mildly cowering boy. At the sight of the three boys who'd already thrashed them once that day, the four boys retreated and Sam said something to Dylan that had the younger boy nodding.

After a few moments and a friendly slap to Dylan's back from all three boys, Becker's boys made their way back to the family cars.

"What did you say to him?" Jess asked when they were all piling into the cars. Becker was taking his three kids home, while Jess was dropping the Temple twins at home. Sam shrugged as he buckled a wriggly Danny into his car seat.

"I told him to drop those tossers and hang with us from now on," Sam told him. Becker grinned widely at hearing that his son had done what he'd asked without him even having to say it. Jess shook her head at the proud grin on her husband's face and gave him another kiss.

"We raised them well," she told him with a smile of her own. Becker reached around his wife to open her door.

"You certainly did," Becker told her with the same grin on his face, which made Jess roll her eyes playfully.

"Flatterer," Jess accused teasingly as she climbed into her car.

"Always," Becker said with another soft kiss, "I'll see you at home love."


End file.
